!S^Si&-!S^\iN»!«:*iSiNS!S>& 


'MX 


PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


Shelf.... 

BS  2615  .L25 

Lang,  John  Marshall,  1834- 

1909. 
The  last  supper  of  our  Lord 

"She  Dau0choll)  l^ibniru  of  €.\'pasition. 


"The  design  of  the  Household  Library  of  Exposition  lias  our 
heartiest  sympathy." — C.  //.  Spurgcon. 

"Promises  to  render  important  aid  to  the  teacher  and  preacher  no 
less  than  to  the  general  Christian  reader." — Christian. 

"Small  volumes,  convenient  in  size  and  price,  in  which  are 
embodied  the  matured  thoughts  and  the  results  of  the  careful  reading 
of  some  of  our  most  eminent  preachers  will,  we  cannot  but  think,  be 
hailed  by  numbers  of  Christian  families  as  meeting  a  distinct  want. 
They  are  practical  and  devotional — not  critical — and  are  admirably 
adapted  for  quiet  reading.  They  are  companions  which  the  devout 
man  may  enjoy  anywhere  ;  they  are  suited  for  the  closet,  and  they 
will  be  useful  also  for  family  reading." — Congregational ist. 

"The  Household  Library  of  Exposition  was  a  happy  thought,  and 
as  volume  after  volume  passes  into  our  hands,  we  find  that  the  realisa- 
tion of  the  thought  is  being  fully  and  adequately  wrought  out." — 
Daily  Kevieio. 

"Admirable,  timely,  and  useful  series." — Literary  IForlJ. 


NO IV  READY. 

THE   LIFE  OF   DAVID  AS   REFLECTED  IN    HIS    PSALMS. 

By  the  Rev.  Alexander  AL\claren,  D.D.,  Manchester. 
Fourtli  Edition.      Three  Shillings  and  Sixpence. 

k\:)k\A,   NOAH,  AND  ABRAHAM:  Readings  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis. 

By  the  Rev.  Joseph  Parker,   D.D.  ,   London.     Author  of 
"  Ecce  Deus, "  &c. 

Second  Edition.      Three  Shillings. 

\'^kkC:.,  JACOB,   AND  JOSEPH. 

By  the  Rev.  Marcus  Dods,  D.D.,  Glasgow. 

Third  Edition.      Three  Shillings  and  Sixpence. 

THE  LAST  SUPPER  OF  OUR  LORD. 

By  the  Rev.  J.  Marshall  Lang,  D.D.,  Glasgow. 
Three  Shillings  and  Sixpence. 


Ihc  f}oxi5tholl)  fibvart)  of  fopositiou. 


IX  PREPARATION. 

THE  TWELVE  AND  THE   SEVENTY. 

By  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Gkosart,  LL. I).,  Blackburn. 

CHRIST'S   DOCTRINE  OF   HAPPINESS. 

By  the  Rev.  Professor  A.  B.  Bruce,  D.  D.,  Glasgow. 

THE   PARABLES  OF   OUR   LORD. 

By  the  Rev.  ^Lvrcls  Dods,  D.D.,  Glasgow. 

THE   SEVEN   WORDS  ON   THE   CROSS. 

By  the  Rev.  Alexander  Maclarex,  D.D.,  Manchester. 

THE   MIRACLES  OF  OUR   LORD. 

By  the  Rev.  Professor  Lai  dlaw,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 

THE  TEMPTATION   OF  CHRIST. 

By  the  Rev.  G.  S.  Barrett,  B.A.,  Norwich. 

THE   LORD'S   PRAYER. 

By  the  Rev.  Charles  Stanford,  D.D.,  London. 


The  following  Authors  are  also  expected  to  contribute 
to  the  Series  : — 

The  Rev.  HENRY  ALLON,  D.D.,  London. 
The  Rev.  J.  OSWALD  DYKES,  D.D.,  London. 
■  The  Rev.  DONALD  ERASER,  D.D.,  London. 
The  Rev.  Professor  GRAHAM,  D.D.,  London. 
The  Rev.  J.  GUINESS  ROGERS,  B.A.,  London. 
The  Rev.  ADOLPH  SAPHIR,  D.D.,  London. 
The  Rev,  W.  FLEMING  STEVENSON,  D.D.,  Dublin. 


EDINBURGH : 
MACNIVEN  &  WALLACE,  144  PRINCES  STREET. 


Zbc  Iboueebolb  Xibrav^  ot  lEyposition. 


THE   LAST   SUPPER  OF  OUR   LORD. 


'""^^^^^ 


THE 


LAST  SUPPER  OF  OUR  LORD 


HIS  WORDS  OF  CONSOLATION 
TO  THE  DISCIPLES 


BY 

J.     MARSHALL     LANG,     D.D. 

MINISTER  OF  THR  BARONY  PARISH.  GLASGOW. 


NEW    YORK:    MACMILLAN   &    CO. 


^  PRUT  01]^;. 

/  hiiC.  iV!AB1882  ^ 

■   •   .'  •  .  .-'V  •  'i  - 

CONTENTS. 


CHAP. 

I.  THE   FAREWELL  TO  THE   WORLD  . 

n.  THE   SUPPER— PREPARATIONS 

in.  THE  SUPPER— FIRST  WORDS 

IV.  THE  WASHING  OF  THE   FEET 

V.  THE   BETRAYER         .... 

VI.  THE   WORD   OF    RELIEF    . 

VII,  THE   BREAD   AND   THE   CUP    . 

VIII.  THE   LORD'S   SUPPER    IN   HIS   CHURCH 

IX.  THE   TABLE-TALK    .... 

X.  THE   BEGINNING  OF   THE   DISCOURSE 

XI.  AN   INTERRUPTION 

XII.  THE    REQUEST   OF    PHILIP        . 

XIII.  THE  GREATER   WORKS    . 


14 
26 
40 
56 
67 
76 
96 


146 

155 


IV  CONTENTS. 


.HAH.  '         ■  ■        .    1 

XIV.      THE  son's   prayer   AND   THE   FAIHER's 


<;iFT i66 

XV.      A    FAREWELL   GREETING  .  ,  .  l8o 

XVL      THE  DLSCOURSE   RESUMED — THE  VINE 

AND   THE    1!RANCHES         .  .  .  I92 

XV n.      CONFLICT  AND   HELP      ....  207 

XVI I L      SORROW  TURNED    INTO  JOY  .  .  .  227 

XIX.      THE   INTERCESSORY   PRAYER  .  .  240 


I  3881HVW 'O^'-J  !' 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 
St  John  xii.  31-50. 

"  Before  the  feast  of  the  Passover,"  the  short 
but  wonderful  Hfe  has  been  lived.  Only  three 
years  of  teaching  and  labour !  But  if  we  "count 
time  by  heart-throbs,"  if  we  measure  existence 
by  the  thought,  the  feeling,  the  action,  com- 
pressed within  it,  what  ages  on  ages  do  these 
three  years  represent !  The  Evangelist,  with  a 
simplicity  which  appeals  to  the  heart,  closes  his 
Gospel  with  the  sentence,  "  There  are  also  many 
other  things  which  Jesus  did,  the  which,  if  they 
should  be  written  every  one,  I  suppose  that 
even  the  world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books  joim  xxi  25. 
that  should  be  written." 

It  is  to  a  very  brief  portion  of  this  life — one 
night,  only  a  part  of  that  one  night — that,  in 
the  following  pages,  our  attention  will  be  drawn. 
The  night  in  which  the  fulness  of  the  Saviour's 
love  is  poured  forth  and  His  deepest  longing  is 
told  !  The  part  of  that  night  which  was  spent 
in  the  upper  room  at  Jerusalem,  and  on  the  way 
thence  towards  the  brook  Kedron  !  We  join  the 
disciples  at  the  Supper  Table  where  the  earthly- 


2     THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

human  fellowship  of  the  Son  of  God  with  those 
who  hear  His  voice  is  consummated,  where  also 
the  cloud  begins  to  receive  Him  out  of  their 
sight.  Truly  "the  place  whereon  we  stand  is 
holy ; "  let  us  seek  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  Truth,  of  whom  it  is  said,  "  He  shall 
glorify  me  :  for  He  shall  receive  of  mine,  and 
johnxvi.  14.  shall  shew  it  unto  you." 

"  Before  the  feast  of  the  Passover "  the  last 
words  of  Jesus  to  the  world  were  spoken. 
These  words  are  set  before  us  between  the  35th 
and  the  50th  verses  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  St 
John's  Gospel ;  St  John  interjecting  an  ex- 
planation, for  which  he  claims  divine  authority, 
of  the  unbelief  of  the  people.  Solemn  and 
weighty  is  the  Farewell-testimony  of  the  In- 
carnate Truth !  The  verses  which  contain  the 
testimony  are  regarded  by  many  commentators, 
not  as  marking  a  discourse  uttered  at  one  time, 
but  "  as  a  summary  of  the  Lord's  teaching 
"^s^peakir's  gathered  up  in  view  of  the  approaching  crisis." 
I  can  scarcely  reconcile  the  language  of  the  44th 
verse  with  this  view.  "Jesus  cried  and  said  "  is 
suggestive  to  me,  not  of  an  epitome  of  many 
sayings  scattered  over  a  period,  but  of  a  distinct 
and  definite  speech.  And  I  am  disposed,  there- 
fore, to  look  on  the  passage  thus  introduced  as 
the  concluding  part  of  the  address  broken  off 
towards  the  end  of  the  36th  verse,  to  be  reckoned 


Commen- 
tary," p.  187 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD.      3 

among  those  things  of  which  it  is  affirmed  that 
when  Jesus  had  spoken  them,  "He  departed  and 
did  hide  Himself."  '«■•  36- 

Taken  in  this  connection,  the  Valedictory- 
Discourse,  with  the  interjected  explanation  of 
St  John,  invites  the  exercise  of  prayerful  reflec- 
tion before  we  proceed  to  the  more  private  self- 
revelation  of  Christ.  Thus — in  the  consideration 
of  warnings  and  exhortations  which  bid  us  ex- 
amine ourselves  to  know  whether  it  is  "our 
earnest  desire  to  withstand  all  unbelief,"  and  to 
keep  His  commandment  which  is  life  everlast- 
ing— shall  we  be  prepared  in  some  measure  for 
nearer  communion  with  our  Lord  in  the  trans- 
actions and  conversations  of  His  Holy  Supper. 

The  subject  set  before  us  is  that  Faith  in 
Himself,  which  is  Christ's  first  and  last  demand. 
Three  points  are  suggested  ;  two  by  the  par- 
enthesis of  the  Apostle,  and  the  third  by  the 
words  of  Christ,  viz. : — 

The  Temperament  ivJiicJi  renders  faith  impos- 
sible. 

T/ie  Inaction  which  involves  the  loss  of  faith. 

The  Action  by  which  faith  is  preserved  and 
perfected. 

"Therefore   they   could    not   believe."      Thever.39. 
sentence  is  a  very  strong  one.    It  is  a  conclusion 
arrived   at   from   the   study  of  a  scripture   of 
Isaiah,    "  He    hath    blinded    their    eyes,    and 


Cf.  Isa.  vi.  9, 


4  THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

hardened  their  heart :  that  they  should  not  see 
with  their  eyes,  nor  understand  with  their 
yen4o.  heart,  and  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them." 
Let  us  apprehend  the  point  of  the  Evangelist's 
sentence  and  the  Prophet's  Scripture. 

It  is  not,  we  may  be  assured,  an  arbitrary  act 
of  Divine  sovereignty  which  is  referred  to  in 
the    clauses    of    the    Old    Testament    saying. 
What  that  saying  contemplates  is  a  moral  con- 
dition to  which  blindness  and  insensibility  be- 
long as  necessarily  as  darkness  belongs  to  night. 
The  Hebrews  never  conceived  of — they  knew 
nothing  of — a  mere  mechanical  law.     They  re- 
garded all  law,  all  sequence,  as  a  mode  of  God's 
power.     And  as,  overlooking  intermediate  and 
subordinate    causes,    they    spoke    of    Him    as 
making   day    and    night,    as    related    directly 
and  personally  to  all  that  is,  so  they  spoke  of 
Him  as  also  caiLsing  spiritual   day  and   night. 
In  the  stolidity  which  is  inevitable  when  the 
soul  refuses  the  report  of  the  messengers  of  God, 
and  closes  itself  against  the  evidence  of  light, 
they   beheld    law ;    and,    beholding    law,    they 
discerned  God.     In  the  working  of  the  law  they 
did  not  hesitate  to  trace  the  action  of  God,  to 
declare,  "  It  is  He  who  has  blinded  tlie  eyes  and 
hardened   the   heart."      In   point   of  fact,    the 
blindness  is  because  the  necessary  conditions  of 
spiritual  sight  have  been  traversed.      St  John 
dwells  much  on  cans  and  cannots.     "  The  Son 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD.  5 

can  do  nothing  of  Himself,  but  what  he  seeth 
the  '  Father  '  do."     "  I  can  of  mine  own  self  do  v.  19. 
nothing."     That  is,  "  it  is  the  necessity  of  the  v.  30. 
Divine  Sonship  to  do  all  in  perfect  sympathy 
with  and  correspondence  to  the  Father."     And, 
again,  as  to  Discipleship  :  "  No  man  can  come  ^i-  4+- 
to  me,  except  the  Father  which  hath  sent  me 
draw  him."     "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  Hi.  3. 
cannot  see  the  Kingdom  of  God."     In  these  and 
in  other  places  the  can  and  cannot  have  a  moral 
significance.    They  refer  to  impossibilities  which 
have  their  root  in  the  presence  or  absence  of 
certain    inward    states    or    dispositions.      And 
similarly,  the  conld  not  of  the  passage  before 
us  implies  the  want  of  the  disposition  to  believe, 
the  operation  of  a  spirit  of  mind  which  is  wholly 
incompatible  with  a  loyal  and  earnest  trust  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

For  example,  the  people,  we  are  told,  meet  the 
Lord  with  the  objection,  "  We  have  heard  out  of 
the  law  that  Christ  abideth  for  ever :  and  how 
sayest  thou.  The  Son  of  man  must  be  lifted  up  .■' 
who  is  this  Son  of  man .-'  "  Two  difficulties  have  xii.  34. 
been  raised  in  their  minds  by  the  saying,  "  I,  if 
I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me."  The  one  ;  the  law  speaks  of  a  king  xii.sz. 
whose  "dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion." 
Yet  Jesus  speaks  of  being  "  lifted  up  from  the 
earth."  The  other;  Jesus  assumes  the  title  Son 
of  Man,  yet  they  knew  the  Messiah  as  the  Son 


6     THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

of  David.  Was  then  the  Son  of  Man  other  than 
the  Messiah  ?  If  not  other,  if  the  same,  why 
use  the  «<?«-national  term  ?  Now,  Christ  does 
not  deny  the  reality  of  these  difficulties.  He 
does  not  find  fault  with  them  for  having,  and 
for  expressing,  such  difficulties.  That  is  not 
His  way.  He  is  no  brow-beater  of  honest 
doubt.  But  what  He  urges  is,  "  Do  not  thrust 
the  difficulties  between  you  and  the  testimony 
which  God  has  given  to  this  Son  of  Man.  If 
you  cannot  see  who  He  is,  if  you  cannot  discern 
the  inner  glory  of  His  being,  at  least  recognize 
the  force  of  Divine  life  that  is  in  Him.  You 
have  not  forgotten  Lazarus  called  by  Him  out 
of  the  grave  and  raised  from  the  dead.  You 
know  how  many  signs  of  this  life  have  been  set 
before  you.  Yield  your  minds  to  this  evidence. 
Leave  the  perplexities  for  solution  in  the  future. 
Take  the  blessing  of  the  light  that  is  now  with 
you."  They  would  not  do  so.  They  deter- 
mined that  they  must  have  an  answer  to  their 
hows.  Intellectual  cavillings  were  allowed  to 
intercept  spiritual  light,  to  prevent  spiritual 
vision.  And  such  being  their  temperament, 
they  could  not  believe. 

Is  it  too  much  to  say  that,  for  the  same 
reason,  there  are  many  amongst  the  people  of  the 
nineteenth  century  who  cannot  believe  .-•  I  do 
not  allude  to  the  occasions  of  unbelief  which 
are  part  of  the  deeper  spiritual  history  of  a 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD.  7 

man ;  I  allude  to  a  type  of  mind  which  is  often 
praised  as  the  sign  of  intellectual  smartness — 
disputatious,  so  occupied  with  little  points  that 
the  effect  of  the  conjunct  testimony  is  lost,  so 
constantly  posing  as  a  debater  or  a  critic,  that 
the  light  cannot  get  fully  into  the  heart  which, 
by  its  own  shining,  would  illumine  what  seems 
to  be  doubtful.  Surely,  there  is  much  in  the 
surrounding  atmospheres,  social  and  literary, 
which  makes  it  not  out  of  place  to  entreat  the 
reader  to  "  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest " 
the  words  of  the  Lord  and  of  His  Apostle 
as  to  tlie  temperavieiit  which  makes  faith  im- 
possible. 

Farther,  the  passage  under  review  is  suggest- 
ive of  a  spiritual  inaction  which  involves  the  loss 
of  faith.  For,  let  us  note  what  is  said  as  to  the 
chief  rulers.  "  Many  believed  on  Him  ;  but 
because  of  the  Pharisees  they  did  not  confess 
Him,  lest  they  should  be  put  out  of  the  Syna- 
gogue. For  they  loved  the  praise  of  men  more  vers.  42, 43. 
than  the  praise  of  God."  Compare  this  state- 
ment with  that  contained  in  a  previous  chapter 
of  this  Gospel.  At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles, 
the  Priests  and  Pharisees  sent  officers  to  appre- 
hend Jesus.  The  officers  failed  to  do  so, 
excusing  themselves  by  saying,  "  Never  man 
spake  like  that  man."  "  Have  any  of  the  Rulers 
or  of  the  Pharisees  believed  in  Him.''"  was  the  viii. 45-52. 
immediate     retort.       One    alone,    Nicodemus, 


6      THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

ventured  to  protest  against  the  summary  pro- 
cedure of  his  colleagues,  and  by  so  doing 
aroused  their  suspicion.  Now,  we  have  the 
assurance  that,  even  in  the  Sanhedrin,  there 
was  a  considerable  party  in  favour  of  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth,  although  prudential  con- 
siderations prevented  them  from  confessing 
Him.  No  doubt,  it  was  cowardly  conduct : 
but,  my  reader,  can  we,  whose  religious  pro- 
fession is  so  often  negative  and  colourless,  who 
are  so  easily  ensnared  by  the  fear  and  governed 
by  the  love  of  the  praise  of  men,  afford  to  cast 
the  stone  at  the  temporising  and  timid 
counsellors  .■* 

What  was  the  consequence  of  their  timidity  ? 
A  few  days  after  the  hiding  of  Jesus  they  Avere 
implicated  in  theplottings  and  schemings  which 
issued  in  the  crucifixion  of  Him  in  whom  they 
believed.  St  John  speaks  of  luafijy  believers ; 
we  read  of  only  tzuo  who  separated  themselves 
from  the  procedure  of  their  colleagues  at  and 
after  the  death  of  Jesus.  And  of  these  two, 
one — Nicodemus — is  mentioned  in  the  fourth 
gospel  alone,  as  having  associated  himself  with 
the  other — Joseph  of  Arimathasa — in  pious  care 
for  the  Body.  Apparently,  Joseph  was  the  only 
dissentient  from  "  the  counsel  and  deed  "  of  the 
Rulers.  The  many  who,  like  him,  felt  the  power 
of  Christ,  were  false  to  their  faith.  The  syna- 
gogue, with   the  praise  of  men,  proved   more 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD.  9 

than  the  solitary  sufferer,  with    the  praise    of 
God. 

It  is  dangerous  to  play  with  convictions, 
dangerous  even  to  delay  the  expression  of  them 
in  appropriate  action.  All  persons,  indeed,  are 
not  alike.  There  are  peculiarities  of  disposition 
which  must  be  respected.  Some  are  reserved  in 
any  indication  of  feeling,  reticent  in  speech,  afraid, 
sometimes  morbidly  so,  of  any  exaggeration,  and 
thus  it  happens  that  they  rather  conceal  than 
reveal  their  true  selves.  A  stranger  is  apt  to  mis- 
judge them.  But  it  is  well  to  remind  such  persons 
that  they  run  the  risk  of  both  weakening  their 
own  faith  and  love,  and  hiding,  as  the  Psalmist 
puts  it,  the  righteousness  of  God.  Their  witness  Ps.  xi.  lo. 
for  the  Lord  may  be  muffled,  their  service  may 
be  hindered.  What  Christ  Himself  insists  upon 
is,  that  he  who  is  but  a  faint-hearted  believer, 
who  is  not  truly  with  Him,  is,  for  practical 
purposes,  really  against  Him.  Alas!  do  we  Luke vi. 23. 
not  all  need  to  be  warned  of  the  two  great 
enemies,  cowardice  and  indolence? — the  cowar- 
dice which  shrinks  from  "the  offence  of  the 
cross;"  the  indolence  which  is  the  parent  of 
faithlessness.  In  the  parable  no  turpitude  is 
charged  against  the  servant  who  hid  the  talent. 
The  indictment  is  :  "  Thou  wicked  and  slothful."  Mau.  x.w. 
From  him  the  talent  is  taken.  "  The  word  of  ^  ' 
faith  which  we  preach  is,  that  if  thou  shalt  confess 
with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  fesus,  and  shalt  believe 


lO    THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

in  thine  heart  that  God  raised  Him  from  the 
dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.     For  with  the  heart 
man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the 
Rom.  X.  8-10.  month  confessioii  is  made  unto  salvation^ 

What  then  is  tJie  action  in  which  faith  is 
preserved  and  perfected  ?  For  the  answer,  we 
shall  listen  to  Jesus  only.  The  substance  of  His 
instruction  is  contained  in  the  two  sentences, 
"Believe   in    the  light,    that    ye   may   be    the 

ver.  36        children  of  light."  "  Walk  while  ye  have  the  light, 

ver.  35.  lest  darkncss  come  upon  you."  In  other  words, 
no  question  is  to  be  allowed  to  divert  the  mind 
from  that  which  is  its  present  and  immediate 
duty — viz.,  the  free,  unreserved,  acceptance  of 
the  light  that  is  shining  on  the  soul.     "  What- 

Eph.v.  13.  soever  doth  make  manifest  is  light:"  where 
God  is  manifested  in  the  righteousness  which  is 
so  narrow,  and  the  charity  which  is  so  broad  : 
where  human  nature  is  manifested  in  what  is 
worst  and  in  what  is  best — the  depths  disclosed 
and  the  heights  revealed ;  where  there  is  "  truth 

Eph.iv.  15.  followed  in  love:"  there  is  light.  Christ,  the 
Incarnate  Truth  and  Love,  could  say,  "  I  am 
come  a  light   into  the  world,  that  whosoever 

Ver.  46.  believeth  on  Me  should  not  abide  in  darkness." 
Darkness  is  the  condition  to  which,  in  His 
coming,  He  looks :  and  the  way  of  His  deliver- 
ance from  the  darkness  acknowledged  by  the 
mind   is,  a  fearless  confidence  in  light,  and   a 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD.  1 1 

whole-hearted  welcome  to  all  in  Himself  which 
interprets  need,  fulfils  desire,  awakens,  inspires, 
gives  light. 

Believe  and  walk.  The  error  of  the  people 
with  whose  objections  Christ  is  dealing  is  that 
they  stand  still,  putting  their  scruples  between 
them  and  Him.  His  command  is,  zvalk.  Use 
what  light  you  have :  set  yourselves  in  the  path 
which  faith  in  the  light  shall  indicate.  For  this 
is  the  duty  of  men  in  all  times.  If  I  were  asked, 
what  is  the  first  thing  in  practical  wisdom  in 
respect  of  doubts  and  difficulties,  I  should  say, 
walk :  and  what  is  the  second  thing,  I  should 
say,  walk  :  and  what  is  the  third  thing,  I  should 
still  say,  walk — in,  up  to,  the  light  already  yours. 
Is  it  scanty  .-*  At  least  to  the  full  measure  of 
its  scantiness  let  it  lead  you.  Do  not  quit 
even  that  small  measure  in  the  expectation  of 
finding  a  light  in  some  other  region.  Trust 
God  for  this  that  it  cannot  be  His  will  to  leave 
any  soul  in  darkness,  that  he  who  asks  and 
waits,  all  the  while  ivalking,  will  undoubtedly 
receive.  Yes :  truth-finding  is  far  more  de- 
pendent on  a  right  state  of  will  than  on  any 
intellectual  acuteness  or  grasp.  The  most 
intellectually  acute  often  miss  the  truth,  some- 
times lose  what  once  they  had,  because  the  will 
has  got  some  twist,  or,  somewhere  in  the 
character  there  is  the  "  little  rift  within  the  lute, 
which  by-and-bye  shall  make  the  music  mute," 


I  2  THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD. 

Whatever  may  be  doubtful,  it  cannot  be  doubt- 
ful to  a  healthy  mind  that  God's  commandments 
are  to  be  kept,  that  in  things  great  and  small 
the  duty  is  to  follow  "  the  blessed  steps  of 
Jesus'  most  holy  life."  Only  let  us  be  sure  that 
we  walk,  that  if  we  cannot  say,  we  are  going 
from  strength  to  strength,  we  can  at  least  say 
that,  although  faint,  we  are  pursuing.  "  Then 
shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  know  the 
Lord :  His  going  forth  is  prepared  as  the 
morning ;  and  He  shall  come  unto  us  as  the 
rain,  as  the  latter  and  former  rain  unto  the 
Hoseavi.  3.  earth." 

"  Believe  that  yoii  may  be  the  cJiildrcn  of 
light!'  The  sentence  strikes  on  the  ear.  It 
seems  to  emphasize  that  not  to  believe  or  to 
cease  to  believe  is  to  pass  into  darkness.  And 
is  it  not  so  }  On  all  sides  we  are  encompassed 
by  things  hard  to  be  understood :  mystery 
everywhere :  problems  bearing  on  life  and 
destiny  which  defy  the  attempt  to  solve  them. 
But  the  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
crystalline  whose  radiance  is  shed  across  the 
whole  sphere  of  thought.  The  labyrinth  may 
be  intricate ;  but,  learning  of  Him,  we  have  at 
least  a  clue  through  it;  we  may  go  farther  and  say 
with  Pascal,  "There  is  light  enough  for  those 
who  wish  to  see,  although  there  is  darkness 
enough  to  confound  those  of  an  opposite  dis- 
position."    But  not   to  wish  to  see  !     Or  to  see 


THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  WORLD.     I  3 

and  not  perceive  !  To  have  the  organ  of  sight 
obscured  by  some  moral  fungus  which  must 
ultimately  destroy  the  power  of  vision,  the 
spirit  of  faith  !  How  sad  !  On  the  other  hand, 
how  great  the  blessing  prepared  for  the  heart 
"  believing,  true,  and  clean  !  "  What  a  phrase, 
the  child  of  light !  God  is  light ;  they  that  are 
born  of  God  are  the  children  of  light. 

"  While  ye  have  light''  is  the  cry  of  Jesus.  It 
is  the  last  opportunity.  He  is  about  to  depart. 
And  the  farewell  is  solemn,  pathetic,  gentle. 
"  If  any  man  hear  my  words,  and  believe  not,  I 
judge  him  not:  for  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world, 
but  to  save  the  world."  Still  the  arms  are  out-  Ver. , 
stretched.  Still  it  is  the  Saviour-love  that 
pleads. 

"  Souls  of  men  !  why  will  ye  scatter 
Like  a  crowd  of  frightened  sheep? 
Foolish  hearts  !  why  will  ye  wander 
From  a  love  so  true  and  deep  } " 

One  hour — then  "  He  that  rejecteth  Me,  and 
receiveth  not  My  words,  hath  one  that  judgeth 
him."  Who  .''  "  The  word  that  I  have  spoken  ver. 
the  same  shall  judge  him  at  the  last  day." 
Thus  the  Lord,  the  "  swift  witness  "  of  the  king- 
dom, shakes  off  the  dust  of  His  feet  as  He  leaves 
the  unbelieving  world.  Shortly  hence  it  will 
marvel  at  His  silence.  For  His  own — as  may  it 
be  ours  to  see  ! — the  best  speech  has  been  kept 
until  now. 


II. 

THE  SUPPER — PREPARATIONS. 
"All  things  are  now  ready." — Sx  Luke  xiv.  14. 

From  the  world  which  had  rejected  Him  and 
which  He  has  judged,  Jesus  has  departed  and 
hidden  Himself.  But  there  is  a  farther  with- 
drawal, the  consciousness  of  which  is  now  fully 
present  to  Him.  "  He  must  depart  out  of  this 
johnxiii.  I.  world  to  the  Father."  And  knowing  that  the 
hour  is  at  hand,  His  care  for  those  whom  the 
Father  had  given  Him  becomes  especially 
manifest.  They  are  to  remain  in  the  world 
which  He  leaves.  They  are  to  be  the  founders 
of  a  new  Brotherhood  and  Communion  of 
Saints.  He  sees  before  them  hostilities,  per- 
secutions, trials  from  which  flesh  and  blood 
would  shrink.  To  comfort  them  ;  to  bind  them 
to  Himself  by  a  bond  never  to  be  broken ;  to 
declare  the  law  of  their  union  in  Him  and  one 
with  another ;  to  compact  the  fellowship  of  all 
who  should  believe  in  Him  through  their  testi- 
mony by  word,  sacrament,  and  prayer — this  is 
the  final  and  supreme  anxiety.  The  love  with 
which  He  glows,  conjoined  with  the  sense  of 


THE  SUPPER PREPARATIONS.  I  5 

His  headship  over  all  things   to   His   church,  John  xiii. 
finds  its  expression  in  the  transactions  and  con-  ^ 
versations  of  the  Last  Supper. 

It   has  been  well  observed  that   whilst  "in 
only  a  very  few,  and  those  scattered  parts  of 
the  sacred  history,  has  the  united  testimony  of 
the  four  Evangelists  been  vouchsafed  to  us  in 
reference  to  the  same  fact,"  a  striking  differ- 
ence appears  when  we  come  to  the  record   of 
the  Sufferings,  the  Passion,  and  Death  of  Jesus. 
That  record  is  given  by  all.     "  The  four  streams 
that  go  forth  to  water  the  earth  must  here  meet 
in  a  common  channel :  the  four  winds  of  the 
Spirit  of  Life  must  here  be  united  and  one."  eiiicou's 
In  all  the  gospels,  a  supper  is  described  as  hav-  theUhot^ 
ing   immediately   preceded    the   agony   in   the  X.^"'^'^'^' 
garden.     We  may  assume — for  there  seems  no 
sufficient  reason  to  doubt — that  the  same  meal 
is  alluded  to  by  all  the  historians. 

The  three  earlier,  whom  it  is  customary  to 
name  the  Synoptists,  because,  as  compared  with 
the  fourth,  they  give  a  combined  view  of  the 
life  of  Christ,  distinctly  assert  that  this  was  the 
Paschal  meal  which  introduced  the  feast  of  the 
Passover,  and  which,  by  statute,  was  held  on 
the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month,  i.e.,  Nizan 
or  Abib.  If  we  study  their  language  by  itself, 
the  impression  is  irresistible  that  the  supper  of 
Christ  with  the  twelve  was  the  legal  and 
ordinary  eating   of  the  Sacrificial    Lamb  with 


I  6  THE  SUPPER— PREPARATIONS. 

unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herbs.  But  what 
says  St  John  .-'  The  first  verse  of  his  thirteenth 
chapter  apparently  implies  that  the  supper 
afterwards  mentioned  was  "before  the  feast  of 
the  Passover."  And  his  narrative  of  the  trial 
indicates  that,  in  the  early  morning  of  the  day 
of  the  crucifixion,  those  who  led  Jesus  to  the 
Hall  of  Judgment  would  not  enter  it  "  lest  they 
should  be  defiled,  but  that  they  might  eat  the 
Passover,^'  and  that  when  Jesus  stood  before 
Pilate  at  noon  on  that  day  it  was  \\\&  preparation 
of  the  Passover.  Clearly,  therefore,  at  that  time 
the  Paschal  Supper  was  still,  at  least  to  many, 
a  thing  of  the  future.  How  can  these  conflict- 
ing statements  be  reconciled  .■* 

We  are  not  called,  in  a  volume  meant  for 
household  reading,  to  review  the  controversies 
which  this  question  has  excited.  And  yet, 
since  all  connected  with  the  supper  of  our  Lord 
is  interesting  to  the  Christian  mind,  we  may  not 
wholly  evade  it. 

I  shall  take  leave  summarily  to  dismiss  a 
supposition  to  which  Canon  Farrar  has  given 
the  weight  of  his  name — that,  "  by  a  perfectly 
natural  identification,  and  one  which  would 
have  been  regarded  as  unimportant,  the  Last 
Supper,  which  zuas  a  quasi  Passover,  a  neiv  and 
Christian  Passover,  and  one  in  which,  as  in  its 
antitype,  memories  of  joy  and  sorrow  w^ere 
strangely  blended,  got  to  be  identified  even  in 


THE  SUPPER PREPARATIONS.  I  7 

the  memory  of  the  Synoptists  with  the  Jewish 
Passover,  and  that  St  John  silently  but  deliber- 
ately corrected  this  erroneous  impression  which, 
even  in  his  time,  had  come  to  be  generally 
prevalent."     The  insinuation  thus  conveyed  of  Life  of 

-       .  .         ,  ''  Christ,  Ex- 

a  confusion  "  in  the  memory  of  the  Synoptists,"  cursusx.  p. 
which  so  coloured  their  statement  of  facts  as  to 
make  it  the  means  of  spreading  an  "  erroneous 
impression,"  seems  to  me  inconsistent  with  any 
real  belief  in  the  illumination — the  guidance  into 
all  the  truth — which  Christ  promised  them,  and, 
on  the  face  of  it,  is  in  the  last  degree  improbable. 
St  Matthew,  one  of  the  twelve,  must  have  had 
all  the  events  of  the  memorable  feast  present  to 
him  in  compiling  his  gospel:  and,  if  he  is  at  any 
point  a  trustworthy  chronicler,  surely  we  may 
rely  on  him  for  exact  and  truthful  information 
with  regard  to  the  time  of  the  feast.     Surely  we 
cannot  for  a  moment  imagine  that  all  the  three 
independent   witnesses   lent  themselves  to  the 
spread  of  what  the  Apostles,  according  to  the 
view  given  above,  must  have  known  was  a  mere 
illusion. 

To  accept  the  accuracy  of  all  the  narratives 
is,  with  me,  a  fixed  point.  I  wish,  neither  for 
the  sake  of  St  John  to  impugn  the  entire 
veracity  of  the  other  members  of  "  the  Evange- 
listic company,"  nor  for  their  sakes  to  impugn 
the  entire  veracity  of  St  John.  If  it  seems 
impossible  formally  to  harmonize  them,  it  may 
B 


15  THE  SUPPER PREPARATIONS. 

be  recollected  that  we  are  not  in  possession  of 
all  the  facts  connected  with  the  celebration  of 
the  Paschal  meal  at  the  time  of  our  Lord  :  that, 
on  account,  say  of  the  enormous  multitude 
assembling  in  Jerusalem  for  the  Passover — 
probably  about  two  millions  and  a  half,  involv- 
ing the  sacrifice  of  260,000  lambs — extensions  of 
time,  for  the  space  of  a  day  after  the  14th,  might 
have  been  allowed,  rendering  it  possible  that 
many  might  not,  on  the  15th  Nizan,  have  eaten 
the  Passover:  at  all  events  that, adopting  the  wise 
principle  of  Dean  Alford,  "  we  may  be  sure  that 
if  we  knew  the  real  process  of  the  transactions 
themselves y  that  knowledge  wonld  enable  ns  to  give 
an  account  of  the  diversities  of  narrative  and 
arrangement  wJiich  the  gospels  noiu  present  to  ns. 
But  without  sncJi  knozvledge  all  attempts  to  ac- 
complish this  analysis  in  minute  detail  must  be 
merely  conjectural,  and  must  tend  to  weaken  the 
Greek  Testa-  evangclic  tcstimony  rather  than  to  strengthen  it." 
gomena,  p.  Tlic  tcndcncy  of  Scriptural  exposition  is,  un- 
^^"  doubtedly,  towards  the  view  that  Christ's  time 

for  keeping  the  Passover  was  twenty-four  hours 
earlier  than  the  time  observed  by  the  people. 
So  thought  the  Greek  Fathers;  so  thought 
many  in  the  Church  of  the  early  centuries, 
who  recognized  in  this  the  way  through  which 
the  anti-typical  relation  of  Christ  to  the  Paschal 
lamb  was  fulfilled  —  His  death  on  the  day 
and  hour  when  the  multitude  were  eating  the 


THE  SUPPER — PREPARATIONS.  1 9 

typical  Lamb,  being,  for  all  who  believe  in 
Him,  the  sacrifice  of  tJieir  Passover,  "  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world."  I  do  not  object  to  this  view  if  John  i.  29. 
it  is  conceded  that  this  was  not  "  a  quasi  Pass- 
over," but  a  real  and  legitimate  observance 
of  the  meal.  There  is  no  warrant  for  the  idea 
of  a  "  quasi  Passover."  What  was  it  .-•  What 
could  it  be  .-'  After,  but  not  until,  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  did  ineniorial  suppers  come 
to  be  substituted  for  the  sacrificial  feasts.  In 
our  Lord's  day,  such  a  kind  of  supper  was  un- 
known. And  the  words  of  the  Synoptists  are 
unambiguous  as  to  this,  that  it  was  the  Passover 
which  the  two  Apostles  made  ready.  Jesus 
Himself  speaks  of  His  desire  "  to  eat  this  Pass- 
over''  with  His  disciples.  That  it  was  not  a 
"  quasi  Paschal "  meal  but  a  true  and  orderly 
Paschal  supper  is,  with  me,  another  fixed  point : 
if  before  the  general  celebration,  because,  for 
some  reason  unknown  to  us,  such  an  anticipa- 
tion was  possible  and  was  valid. 

Let  this  suffice  by  way  of  discussion.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  we  find  a  solution  of  the 
difficulties  suggested  by  the  comparison  of  the 
four  Records.  It  is  enough  that  we  trace 
directions  along  which,  if  we  were  informed  as 
to  all  particulars,  a  solution  might  be  found. 
Our  position  shall  be  that  the  supper,  whose 
events  and  whose  unfoldings  of  love  we  desire 


20  THE  SUPPER — PREPARATIONS. 

to  trace,  was  the  Passover  which  Peter  and 
John  had  made  ready,  and  which,  "when  the 
even  was  come,"  the  Lord  celebrated  with  His 
httle  flock. 

''All  things  are  now  ready!' 
The  Room  is  ready.     In  the  earlier  part  of 
the  day,  the  two  Apostles  whom  the  Lord  had 
LuUexxii.    sent  before  His  face  found  "the  guest-chamber" 
furnished  and  prepared.     Pious  Israelites  were 
in  the  habit  of  setting  apart  a  portion  of  their 
homes,  when  the  size  of  the  house  admitted  of 
so  doing,  for  the  entertainment  of  strangers  at 
the   great   national    festival.      This   portion    is 
claimed  from  some  householder  for  the  use  of 
Jesus.     Who  he  was  we  know  not.     Tradition, 
as  usual,  is  eager  to  supply  the  missing  informa- 
tion.     Nicodemus,  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  John 
Mark,  are   names  presented  to   us,   but   these 
names  are  merely  conjectural.     We  infer  that 
he  was  at  least  a  secret  disciple.     The  words 
which  Peter  and  John  are  instructed  to  address 
to  him  imply  his  recognition  of  Christ's  author- 
ity, and   a   certain  almost  confidential   know- 
ledge as  to   His  mission.     "  The  master  saith, 
Matt.  xxvi.    ^y   ti'})ie   is   at  hand."      Whether,    on   a   pre- 
vious day  when  visiting   the  city,  Jesus   had, 
in  calm  prescience,  arranged  with  him  both  for 
the  approaching  supper  and  for  the  man  who 
should  guide  His  messengers  to  the  house,  it  is 
needless  either  to  assert  or  deny.     The  Evange- 


THE  SUPPER — PREPARATIONS.  21 

lists  merely  record  the  designation  of  the  guide  Markxiv.n, 
to  Peter  and   John,    and   the  message   which,  Luke xxH. 
following    him,   they   were    to   deliver   to   the  '°'"' 
"goodman   of  the  house"    into  which  he  en- MarkxW. i6. 
tered.     "Thus  does  our  Lord  go  on  His  way, 
every  thing  ministering  to  His   foreseen  need, 
with  child-like  serenity  and  ease  providing  for  of'";  rl^rd^ 
every  earthly  want."  Itill^"^' 

The  house  must  have  been  a  large  one  :  its 
"  good-man  "  a  person  of  means  and  importance. 
For  we  are  introduced  to  "  a  large  upper  room." 
It  is  observable  that  in  such  a  room,  marked  as 
the  abode,  or,  as  we  might  say,  the  rendezvous 
of  the  Apostles,  the  Disciples  assembled  on 
their  return  to  Jerusalem  after  the  Ascension.  Acts i.  13. 
Such  a  room  was  "  the  one  place  "  in  which  Acts  ii.  i. 
they  were  all  "  with  one  accord  "  when  the  "  day 
of  Pentecost  was  fully  come."  It  has  been  sup- 
posed— and  the  supposition  is  plausible — that 
the  upper  room  of  which  we  read  in  the  history 
of  the  Church  is  the  same  as  that  which  was 
consecrated  by  the  Paschal  meal  on  the  night 
of  the  Betrayal.  And  if,  as  we  read  in  the 
Book  of  the  Acts,  the  Believers  were  wont  to 
meet  in  the  house  of  the  mother  of  John  Mark,  Actsxii.  12. 
the  identification  of  the  householder  with  him, 
already  alluded  to,  receives  a  measure  of  sup- 
port. Be  this  as  it  may,  all  things  in  the  upper 
room  are  ready.  Not  only  are  the  tables  set, 
and  the  couches  placed,  and  the  mats  in  order, 


2  2  THE  SUPPER PREPARATIONS. 

but  the  tapestry  is  spread  over  the  couches  in 
token  that  guests  are  expected. 

The  Slipper  is  ready.  Assuming  that  it  was  a 
real  Paschal  meal,  the  command  to  make  ready 
the  Passover  would  include  all  that  the  custom- 
ary observance  of  the  feast  required.  To  begin 
with,  the  putting  away  of  leaven  or  ferment 
from  the  house  in  which  the  meal  was  to  be 
kept.  Such  was  the  anxiety  as  to  this  that  the 
house  was  searched  with  lighted  wax-candles, 
and  a  solemn  form  of  "annulling,  scattering, 
and  accounting  as  the  dust  of  the  earth  all 
Kitto's  manner  of  ferment"  was  pronounced.  There 
Art!  Pa^s-'^'  was,  farther,  the  provision  of  the  bitter  herbs,  the 
bread  without  leaven,  the  fruit-cake  or  sauce  com- 
posed of  raisins,  dates,  and  figs  pressed  together, 
the  wine  or  fruit  of  the  vine  before  it  had  time 
to  ferment.  Finally,  the  lamb  which  had  been 
selected  on  the  loth  day  of  the  month,  and  was 
slain  "  between  the  evenings  "  of  the  14th,  ?>., 
between  3  and  6  P.M.,  by  the  Levites  before  the 
altar  of  brass  in  the  Temple,  was  received  from 
the  Priest  with  imposing  ceremonial,  and  was 
borne  to  the  place  of  assembly  to  be  roasted 
in  preparation  for  the  evening.  All  the  re- 
quirements of  a  becoming  celebration  of  the 
rite  would  be  attended  to  by  those  whom  the 
Lord  had  commissioned.  Very  simple  the 
supper  to  which  He  and  His  own  sat  down : 
only  to  the  spiritual  eye  could  it  announce  the 


over. 


THE  SUPPER — PREPARATIONS.  2  7, 

"  feast  of  fat  things,  of  wines  on  the  lees,  of  fat 
things  full  of  marrow,  of  wines  on  the  lees  well 
refined,"  which  on  mount  Zion  the  Lord  God  isa.  xxv.  e. 
was  preparing  for  all  people, 

"  Clirist  our  Passover  "  is  ready.  He  knows 
that  "  the  hour  is  come " — the  hour  for  which 
He  had  come  into  the  world.  Loving  hands 
have  anointed  His  body  for  the  burial.  To 
His  human  soul  the  sign  of  the  glorifying 
through  sorrow  has  been  given.  As,  at  the 
birth,  the  men  from  the  East  came  to  offer  gifts, 
so,  on  one  of  the  busy  days  in  the  Temple,  in 
the  week  which  the  Triumphal  Entry  ushered 
in,  Greeks  came  from  the  West  to  prefigure,  by 
their  request,  "  We  would  see  Jesus,"  the  catho-  stier,  vol.  6, 

P-  78,  79- 

lie  nature  and  blessings  of  His  kingdom.  That 
request,  we  are  told,  stirred  the  soul  of  Jesus 
with  a  strange  emotion.  First,  solemnly  tri- 
umphant, as  conveying  an  intimation  which  others  John  xii.  23- 
could  not  discern  that  the  sacrifice  was  due — 
(might  not  their  desire  have  been  expressed  on 
the  loth  of  the  month,  the  day  on  which  the 
unblemished  one  of  the  flock  was  chosen  for  the 
offering  ?) — that,  now,  the  seed  must  fall  into 
the  ground  and  die,  and  in  death  be  quickened 
into  the  glory  of  the  Resurrection.  And,  then, 
for  an  instant  a  shadow  plays  across  the 
countenance  :  only  to  bring  into  fuller  relief  the 
consecration  of  the  will.  "  Now  is  my  soul 
troubled,  and  what  shall  I  say.''     Father  save 


24  THE  SUPPER PREPARATIONS. 

me  from  this  hour.     But  for  this  cause  came  I 
unto  this  hour.     Father,  glorify  Thy  name." 

Yes  :  it  is  finished — the  witness-bearing,  the 
manifestation  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  For  one 
day  He  has  waited  in  the  deep  seclusion  of 
Bethany.  There  is  no  record  of  word  or  deed 
on  the  Wednesday  before  He  suffered.  A 
portion  of  its  time,  we  may  conceive,  had  been 
devoted  to  the  instruction  of  His  Apostles :  the 
greater  portion  of  it  to  conference  with  the 
Father,  and  the  anointing  of  soul  supplied 
through  such  conference.  We  seem  to  hear, 
rising  from  the  quiet  of  the  mountain  village, 
the  sentences  of  that  22nd  Psalm  which  the 
voice  from  the  cross  proves  to  have  been 
specially  present  to  Him  in  His  last  time  on 
the  earth.  "  Be  not  far  from  me  ;  for  trouble  is 
near ;  for  there  is  none  to  help.  Many  bulls 
have  compassed  me  about :  strong  bulls  of 
Bashan  have  beset  me  round.  They  gaped 
upon  me  with  their  mouths,  as  a  ravening  and 
roaring  lion.  ...  Be  not  Thou  far  from  me,  O 
Ps  xxii.  II-  Lord  :  O  my  strength,  haste  Thee  to  help  me." 
But  the  veil  of  an  impenetrable  secresy  hides 
that  day  from  our  view.  It  was  a  Sabbath 
to  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  "that  Sabbath 
was  a  high  day." 

The  making  ready  of  the  anti-typal  Passover 
involved  another  and  a  fearfully  contrasting  act. 
Early  in  the  week,  the  Chief  Priests  and  Scribes 


19. 


THE  SUPPER PREPARATIONS.  25 

and  Elders  had  resolved,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  Matt.  xxvi. 
to  get  rid  of  their  Judge  and  Condemner.  The 
sooner  the  better :  for  every  day  the  crowd  of 
pilgrims  increased,  and  who  could  answer  for 
the  commotion  which  might  be  excited?  We 
can  imagine  the  consultations  in  the  dimly- 
lighted  chamber — the  partial  light  only  bring- 
ing into  more  lurid  relief  the  lines  on  the  faces 
of  the  Counsellors.  "  They  sought  how  they 
might  kill  him,"  says  St  Luke.  Whether  on  Luke  xxii.  2. 
the  Tuesday  or  Wednesday  does  not  appear : 
but  their  deliberations  were  cast  into  something 
like  shape  by  the  tidings  that  one  of  the  twelve 
was  ready  to  forward  their  guilty  project.  And 
we  are  informed  of  the  satisfaction  which 
lighted  their  countenances  as  they  concluded 
the  bargain  with  Judas  Iscariot.  Outside  Ver. 5. 
Jerusalem,  love  is  directing  its  prayer  and 
looking  up  :  in  the  House  of  Jehovah,  hatred 
and  malice  are  plotting  the  death,  and  thirsting 
for  the  blood,  of  the  Innocent. 

But  man  in  his  hatred  only  prepares  for  God 
in  His- love.  Judas  has  secured  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Lamb  that  shall  take  away  the  sin  of  the 
world. 

"  All  things  are  noiv  ready T 

"  Whe?i  the  hour  ivas  come.  He  sat  doiv}i,  and 
the  iivelve  Apostles  ivith  Him" 


III. 

THE  SUPPER — FIRST  WORDS. 

St  Luke  xxii.  14. 

Probably  before  the  time  of  our  Lord  the  older 
ritual  of  the  Paschal  Supper  had  been  modified 
— departed  from  at  some  points,  and  added  to 
at  others.  The  earlier  attitude  of  standing  with 
loins  girt,  shoes  on  feet,  and  staff  in  the  hand 
had  been  superseded  by  the  practice  of  reclin- 
ing, as  was  customary  at  meals,  on  small  couches 
or  cushions  placed  around  the  table.  Otherwise, 
many  petty  observances  had  been  introduced, 
the  effect  of  which  was  to  make  the  ceremonial 
more  elaborate  and  stately.  If  the  statements 
of  the  Mishna  and  the  Talmud  are  to  be  relied 
upon  as  accurately  representing  the  usage  then 
existing,  we  are  able  to  reproduce  the  procedure 
of  such  a  company  as  that  which  A.D,  33 
assembled  in  the  guest-room  of  the  unknown 
disciple  at  Jerusalem. 

We  suppose  that  the  ablutions  preparatory 
to  the  celebration  of  a  feast  have  been  per- 
formed. The  master  of  the  family  has  seated 
himself  on  the  central  couch,  the  senior  or  the 
most  honoured  members  of  the  party  being  next 
him.     He  raises  a  cup  which  had  been  filled 


THE  SUPPER — FIRST  WORDS.  1"] 

with  the  juice  of  the  grape,  blesses  "  the  King 
of  the  universe  who  had  created  the  fruit  of  the 
vine,"  drinks  the  cup  in  token  that  all  should 
follow  his  example.  This  done,  the  hands  of 
all  are  washed.  Next,  the  door  of  the  chamber 
opens,  and  a  small  table  or  tray  is  brought  in 
on  which  are  placed  the  bitter  herbs,  the  un- 
leavened bread,  the  Paschal  Lamb,  the  CJiagigaJi 
or  appointed  feast  offering  of  the  flock,  and  the 
sauce  or  cake  so  compressed  as  to  resemble  clay- 
in  remembrance  of  the  bitter  toil  of  the  Israelite 
in  Egypt.  Reverently  the  master  raises  his  eye 
to  heaven,  blessing  the  name  of  the  Eternal,  and 
from  the  tray  selects  a  herb — the  company 
imitating  the  action — dips  it  in  the  sauce,  and 
eats  it.  This  done,  he  sets  the  smaller  table 
aside,  and  recites  the  tale  of  the  deliverance 
from  the  house  of  bondage,  concluding  with  the 
pouring  of  wine  into  the  cup.  "  What  mean  ye 
by  this  service.-*"  interposes  the  youngest  of  the 
guests,  and  the  master  responds  in  prescribed 
liturgical  form,  beginning,  "  How  different  is 
this  night  from  all  other  nights,"  and  he  bids 
the  table  again  be  set  before  him,  and  announces 
the  meaning  of  the  Passover ;  first,  expound- 
ing the  symbolism  of  the  bitter  herbs,  then,  the 
symbolism  of  the  unleavened  bread ;  and  calling 
those  present  "  to  confess,  to  praise,  to  laud,  to 
glorify,  to  honour,  to  extol,  to  magnify,  and 
to  ascribe  victory  to   Him  who  did  unto  our 


28  THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS. 

Fathers  and  unto  us  all  these  signs,  and  who 
brought  us  forth  from  bondage  to  freedom,  from 
sorrow  to  joy,  from  darkness  to  marvellous 
light,  and  to  say  before  Him,  Halleluiah."  In 
obedience  to  this  command,  the  first  part  of  the 
Hallel — the  113th  and  114th  Psalms — is  sung. 
At  its  conclusion  the  cup  which  had  previously 
been  prepared  is  drunk.  And  again  the  hands 
are  washed.  Now  begins  the  eating  of  the 
Passover,  introduced  by  the  breaking  of  two 
cakes  Avith  both  hands,  and  pronouncing  over 
them  a  formula  of  blessing.  A  small  portion  is 
given  to  each  person,  with  the  sentence,  "  This 
is  the  bread  of  affliction  .which  our  fathers  did 
eat  in  the  land  of  Egypt,"  and  each  person  eats, 
dipping  the  portion  into  the  sauce.  The 
partaking  of  the  lamb  is  proceeded  with,  and 
the  "  children  of  the  family "  converse  on  the 
works  of  the  Lord,  and  the  "years  of  the  ancient 
times."  The  last  food  tasted  is  the  flesh  of  the 
lamb.  And  when  all  are  satisfied,  the  third  cup 
is  elevated  and  blessed,  and,  repeating  the  same 
sentence,  all  drink  together.  The  thanksgiving 
is  prolonged — special  reference  being  made  to 
the  covenant  made  with  Abraham,  and  the  Law 
which  came  by  Moses.  A  fourth  cup  is  filled, 
and  high  praise  is  rendered  through  the  repeti- 
tion of  Psalms,  especially  the  145th.  When  this 
cup  is  quaffed  the  feast  is  at  an  end.  A  fifth 
cup,  preceded  by  the  great  Hallel— the  136th 
Psalm — may  be  taken,  but  the  probabilities  are 


THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS.  29 

that  it  is  not.     With  the  singing  of  Hymns  or 
parts  of  the  Hallel,  the  master  and  his  associates  Kitto's 
exchange  farewells,  and  quit  the  scene  of  their  diar  An^ 
holy  assembly. 

Such  was  the  etiquette  of  the  supper  which 
our  Lord  and  His  twelve  Apostles  celebrated. 
Whether  all  minutiae  were  adhered  to  we  cannot 
say.     But,    connecting    the    narratives    of    the 
Evangelists  with  the  account  of  the  ceremonial 
with  which   the    Rabbinical    books   supply  us, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  omitting  perhaps 
mere  petty  ordinances,  all  that  was  necessary 
to  the  orderly  observance  of  the  meal  was  com- 
plied with.     St  Luke  tells  us  of  two  cups,  which 
we  have  little  difficulty  in  distinguishing  as  the  y^^.^  ^^^  ^o. 
first  or  introductory  cup  and  the  third  or  the 
cup  of  Benediction.     We   recognize   the   point 
in  the  order  of  the  meal  at  which  the  breaking 
of  bread  occurred — the  new  formula  "  This  is 
my  body  broken  for  you,"  taking  the  place  of 
the  old,  "  This  is  the  bread  of  affliction."     The 
washing  of  the  feet  seems  to  belong  to  the  stage 
when,  after  the  second  cup,  all   washed  :    the 
strange  thing  being  that  the  Lord  washed  the 
disciples,  and  not  the  hands  but  the  feet.     The 
Hymn  sung  before  the  departure  to  the  mount  Matt.  xxvi. 
of  Olives  we  identify  as  the  customary  parting  ^°' 
act  of  praise.     Enough,  in  short,  is  presented  in 
the  gospels  to  assure  us  that  it  was  not  a  quasi, 
but  a  real  Paschal  meal  to  which  Jesus  sat  down 
on  the  night  of  His  betrayal. 


30  THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS. 

But  it  is  impossible  exactly  to  harmonize  the 
four  testimonies,  or  to  assign  to  each  of  the 
incidents  related  its  precise  place  in  the  Pass- 
over ritual.  The  notices  of  the  evening  are 
very  brief  and  fragmentary.  That  which  the 
Synoptists  are  careful  to  record  is  the  Institu- 
tion of  the  Holy  Eucharist :  but  whether,  with 
Matt.xxvi.    5t-  Matthew  and  St  Mark,  we  are  to  regard  the 

21.  '  " 

Markxiv.18.  announcement  of  the  traitor  as  before,  or  with  St 

Luke  XXII. 21. 

Luke,  as  after,  the  Institution,  or  whether  there 
were  two  announcements,  the  one  before  and  the 
other  after:  when  the  strife  related  by  St  Luke  as 
to  which  of  the  Apostles  should  be  accounted  the 
greatest  occurred — at  the  beginning  or  in  the 
middle  of  the  feast,  previous  to,  or  subsequent 
to,  the  feet-washing  mentioned  alone  by  St 
John  :  the  precise  time  of  the  feet  washing : 
the  precise  time  of  the  departure  of  Judas  :  the 
precise  time  of  the  warning  to  Simon  : — these 
are  points  which,  in  consequence  of  our  imperfect 
knowledge  of  all  that  happened,  cannot  abso- 
lutely be  determined.  Let  us  not  insist  that 
"  every  part  shall  be  tesselated  into  one  complete 
and  consistent  whole."  That  the  attempt  must 
be  hopeless  is  an  evidence  of  the  inartistic 
construction  of  the  gospels,  and  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  sacred  Biographers.  There  is 
no  straining  after  effect.  There  could  have 
been  no  collusion  between  writers  whose  ac- 
counts, identical  as  to  the  main  facts,  are  yet 
separate,  almost  different,  as  to  their  details. 


THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS.  3  I 

Premising  therefore  that  only  a  probable  out- 
line can  be  presented — an  outline  to  which,  at 
several  points,  exception  may  be  taken  by  the 
reader,  let  us  endeavour  to  recall  and  to  con- 
sider the  meaning  of  the  transactions  of  the 
upper  room  in  which  Peter  and  John  had 
made  ready  the  supper. 

The  soil  gathered  in  the  short  journey  from 
Bethany  having  been  removed  by  the  washing 
"  with  pure  water,"  the  Lord  and  His  own  have 
taken  their  seats.  It  is  possible  that  the  con- 
tention over  the  relative  greatness  of  the  twelve, 
or,  as  has  been  supposed,  of  the  three,  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  may  have  been  occasioned  in 
connection  with  the  question  who  should  sit 
next  the  Master.  I  am  disposed,  however,  to 
relegate  this  contention  to  a  later  period  in  the 
evening.  I  suppose  that,  without  unseemly 
wrangling,  all  have  bent  down  and  are  reclining 
in  expectation  of  the  introductory  act.  Every 
eye  is  fixed  on  Jesus.  The  cup  which  it  is 
customary  at  once  to  fill  is  before  Him.  He 
fills  it :  but  before  raising  it  in  His  right  hand. 
He  looks  to  either  side,  the  countenance 
beaming  with  the  light  of  an  unspeakable 
love,  and  utters  the  first  word  of  the  feast ; 

"  With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  Passover 
with  yo2i  before  I  suffer :  for  I  say  iintoyoic  I  will 
not  any  more  eat  thereof  until  it  be  fulfilled  in  the  Vers.  15, 16. 
kingdom  of  God!' 


32  THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS. 

Thus  the  shepherd  of  the  httle  flock,  the 
father  of  the  family  now  convened,  pours  forth 
His  heart.  The  saying  is  charged  with  intense 
emotion  : — to  say,  I  desire,  were  insufficient,  the 
phrase  employed  is  the  emphatic,  "  ardently, 
vehemently  have  I  desired."  This  Passover 
has  been  contemplated  for  many  days — Ah  ! 
shall  we  speak  only  of  days  .'* — and  always  as 
an  event  so  significant,  so  fruitful  of  blessing, 
that  the  craving  for  it  has  overcome  the 
shrinking  of  the  sensitive  soul  from  the  im- 
mediately impending  passion.  The  human 
heart  has  been  ivearying  for  its  hour  of  supreme 
rejoicing  love,  when  it  shall  be  free  to  abandon 
itself  to  communion  with  its  brethren,  un- 
restrained by  the  shadow  of  a  hostile  world, 
and  to  give  them  its  best — the  secret  of  its  own 
peace  and  triumph.  We  cannot  doubt  that  the 
longing  for  such  fellowship  and  self-bestow- 
ment  was  an  essential  element  in  the  ardour 
which,  having  for  long  been  pent  up  as  in  a 
sealed  fountain,  now  finds  expression. 

We  turn  to  this  word  as  a  consecration  of  all 
that  is  purest  and  loftiest  in  the  brotherhood 
of  men.  It  is  the  man  Christ  Jesus  who  craves 
to  eat  with  His  brother  men.  Even  as,  after- 
wards in  Gethsemane  He  seeks  the  support 
of  the  chosen  three,  and  articulates  the  dis- 
appointment of  His  soul  when  He  finds  them 
sleeping  in  the  cry  "What!  could  ye  not  watch 

Mark  xxvi.    with  mc  onc  hour.'"'  so  in  the  prospect  of  suffering, 

40. 


THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS.  33 

of  that  baptism  of  blood  for  which  His  soul 
was  straitened  until  it  should  be  accomplished, 
He  anticipates,  feeds  on  the  anticipation  of,  the 
strength  which  He  should  receive  through  the 
responsive  love  of  those  whom  He  had  called  to 
Himself  He  did  not  ask  from  them  more  than 
that  they  should  receive  Him,  that  they  should 
open  their  souls  to  Him,  that  He  should  know 
that  He  had  given  the  Father's  word  to  them  and 
they  had  trusted  Him,  and  that  He  and  they  were 
one.  All  this  is  beautifully,  unselfishly,  human. 
And  because  it  is  so,  I  take  it  to  be  a  mirror  of 
the  love  of  God.  For  the  heart  of  God  is 
human,  and  longs  to  find  itself  welcomed, 
understood,  and  responded  to.  Its  delight  is 
to  eat  with  us,  and  when  the  door  of  thought  is 
closed  against  its  light,  and  the  warmth  of 
affection  and  the  energy  of  will  are  withdrawn 
from  its  communion,  the  condemnation  is,  "  I 
was  an  hungered,  but  you  gave  me  no  meat :  I 
was  thirsty,  but  you  gave  me  no  drink  :  I  was  a 
stranger,  j/^«  took  me  not  in."  Matt.  xxv. 

But  the  first  sentences  of  Jesus  at  the  supper 
table  are  not  a  mere  utterance  of  human 
tenderness  :  they  are  full  of  the  purpose  and 
"  travail  "  of  the  Redeemer.  "  This  Passover^' 
— why  tliis  ?  why  was  the  Passover  distinctively 
present  to  his  mind .?  Why  should  it  be  a 
desire  so  strong  to  share  this  particular  festival 
before  He  suffered  .-'  There  was  much  indeed 
C 


34  THE  SUPPER — FIRST  WORDS. 

which   appealed    to   all    that   was    heroic   and 
national    in    the   great    annual    festival.       But 
there  is  an  element  in  the   longing  of  Christ 
above  and  beyond  the  feeling  of  the  Israelite. 
It  is  the  last  Passover  of  the  true  spiritual  Israel 
of  God.     His  last,  not  simply  because  He  must 
depart  out  of  this  world  to  the  Father,  but  because 
His  departure  is  the  sign  that  with  it  the  entire 
system  of  which  the  Passover  was  the  crown 
must  disappear.     It  was  ready  to  vanish  away. 
It  was  not  to  be  lost.     Nothing  is  lost.     It  is 
not  God's  way  to  destroy.     He  carries  the  bud 
on  into  the  flower,  the  germ  into  the  fruit,  the 
child  into  the  man,  the  shadow  into  the  sub- 
stance :    the   one   is   done  away  because   it  is 
fulfilled  in  the  other.     And  it  is  because  the 
prophetic  eye  of  Jesus  sees  the  kingdom  of  God  ; 
the  real,  true.  Heavenly  Commonwealth  which 
all  that  was  in  the  past  typified,  prepared  for, 
had  led  up  to ;  the  kingdom  to  be  built  on  a 
New  Testament  in  the  blood  of  "the  Lamb  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;"  the  kingdom 
which  is  "righteousness,  peace,  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  "  ;  because  He  sees  this  kingdom  coming, 
yea,  in  that   house  at  that  moment,  that    the 
ardour  of  the  spirit  approaches  the   confines  of 
impatience.   He  is  looking  to  the  feast  of  spiritual 
fellowship  in  which  the  heart  of  man  shall  eat, 
not  the  bread  of  affliction,  but   the    bread    of 
the  Eternal  Life.     Pull  in  His  view  is  the  com- 


THE  SUPPER — FIRST  WORDS.  35 

plete  in-gathering  of  the  "redeemed  from  all 
lands,  from  the  east  and   from  the  west,  from 
the  north  and  from  the  south,"  and  "until  this  Ps. cvii. 3. 
last  most  blessed  re-union  and   re-instatement 
of  fellowship    He   takes    farewell"    of  earthly  siier,  vii.  37. 
rite  and  ordinance.      "  /  will  not  any  niore  eat 
thereof r — Nay;  holding  the  cup  in  His   hand. 
He  cries,  "  Take  this  and  divide  it  aino7ig  your- 
selves.      I    have   done   with   all    cup-drinkings  Ver.  17. 
which  precede   the  cup    of  benediction  to   be 
shortly  put  into  your  hands.     The  time  of  the 
Re-formation  has  arrived.     /  will  not  drink  of 
the  fniit  of  the  vine  until  the  kingdom  of  God 
shall  comer  Ver.  is. 

The  sower  of  tares  is  never  far  behind  the 
householder  who  sows  the  good  seed.  After  the 
introductory  words — at  some  point  in  the  earlier 
portion  of  the  feast — I  insert  the  strife  mentioned 
by  St  Luke.  True,  the  account  of  the  strife 
would  seem  to  be  connected  with  that  of  the 
questioning  caused  by  the  intimation  that  the 
hand  of  the  betrayer  was  with  the  Lord  on 
the  Table.  "  They  began  to  inquire  among 
themselves  ivhich  of  them  it  was  that  should 
do  this  thing.  And  there  zuas  also  a  j^r//^."  Vers.  23, 2+. 
The  contention  might,  with  no  violence  to  the 
probabilities  of  things,  have  arisen  at  the  very 
time  of  the  solemn  impression  which  had  been 
excited.     Alas !  who  of  us  does  not  know  how 


36  THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS. 

rapidly  the  mind  slides  from  thought  the  most 
solemn  into  mere  trivialities !  Nor  could  we 
deny  that  the  protestations  of  the  Disciples 
might,  naturally  enough,  lead  on  to  assertions  of 
devotion,  and  from  assertions  of  devotion  to  the 
urging  of  claims  for  the  higher  places  in  the 
expected  kingdom.  But,  in  his  statement  of 
the  events  of  the  Supper,  St  Luke  does  not  aim 
at  exact  chronological  sequence.  His  also  may 
imply  nothing  more  than  that  the  dispute  as  to 
preeminence  was  one  of  the  features  of  the 
evening.  Now,  there  is  an  undoubted  con- 
nection between  the  dispute  and  the  feet-wash- 
ing. The  language  of  the  27th  verse  proves 
this.  Which  of  the  two  preceded  the  other  }  I 
think  it  on  the  whole  more  likely  that  the 
dispute  preceded,  and  was  the  occasion  of,  the 
notable  act  of  the  Lord.  In  this  case,  we  must 
transfer  the  occurrence  to  a  point  in  the  Supper 
previous  to  the  institution  of  the  Eucharist. 
When  we  study  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  St 
John's  Gospel,  we  can  scarcely  find  space  for 
the  strife  and  the  word  with  regard  to  it  after 
Jesus  had  "taken  his  garments  and  was  set 
down  again." 

It  is  the  old  contention  with  which  the  Master 

Mark  XX.20- had  prcviously  dealt:  the  contention,  let  it  be 

said,  as  old  as  our  sinful  human  nature.     Are 

we  not  sometimes  conscious  of  its  shadow  across 

our  soul  ">     The  "chief  seats,"  the  great  positions 


THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS.  T^'J 

— how  men  have  wrangled  for  them,  how  men 
lust  after  them  in  their  hearts  even  in  holy- 
convocations  and  at  holy  seasons !  Perhaps, 
one  of  the  number  was  dissatisfied  at  the  place 
assigned  to  him  at  the  table.  Perhaps — a  more 
probable  explanation — the  reference  recently 
made  to  the  coming  Kingdom  of  God  had 
aroused  in  the  as  yet  carnal  minds  of  the  twelve 
the  idea  of  dignities  and  ranks.  So  it  is  :  they 
grow  hot  and  eager  over  the  question  ''who 
should  be  accounted  the  greatest T  ver  24. 

The  controversy  is  observed  by  the  Lord. 
My  readers,  when  the  mind  is  full  of  a  holy 
thought,  when  the  level  of  feeling  is  high,  when 
the  soul  is  aglow  with  some  great  and  noble 
purpose,  what  can  so  irritate  every  finer  sensi- 
bility as  to  realize,  through  the  glance  or  speech 
of  those  with  whom  you  are  associated,  not  only 
that  there  is  an  imperfect  appreciation  of  what 
most  inspires  you,  but  that  their  spirits  are  out 
of  tune  with  yours  and  are  influenced  by  things 
petty  and  earthly }  What  must  it  have  been  to 
Christ  to  listen  to  the  murmurings — selfish  and 
small — of  the  men  over  whom  His  heart  was 
yearning  in  that  hour  of  special  and  solemn  con- 
ference !  How  marvellously  patient  is  the  Son 
of  God  !  How  gentle,  withal  how  pungent.  His 
reproof  as  He  recalls  the  lines  of  His  past 
exposure  of  the  mistake  which  they  committed, 
and  brings  them  back  to  the  truth  of  His  king- 


38  THE  SUPPER — FIRST  WORDS. 

dom  as  exemplified  in  Himself!  As  if  His 
kingdom  were  some  earthly  principality,  some 
tetrarchate  like  that  of  Herod,  or  even  empire 
like  that  of  Rome,  in  which  lordships  are  exer- 
cised and  sycophants  extol  potentates  as  bene- 
factors !  Had  He  not  told  them  before ;  must 
He  tell  them  again, 

"  Ye  shall  not  be  so,  but  he  that  is  greatest 
among  y oil  let  him  be  as  the  younger,  and  he  that 
is  chief  as  he  that  doth  serve.  For  zvJiether  is 
greater,  he  that  sittetli  at  meat  or  he  that  serveth  ? 
is  not  lie  that  sittetJi  at  meat  ?  But  I  am  among 
Vers.  s6, 27.  yo2i  as  lie  that  servetJir 

Yes !  He  is  about  to  give  such  an  enforce- 
ment of  this  lesson  as  His  church  shall  never 
forget.  Meanwhile — before  he  embodies  His 
instruction  in  deed — He  gives  a  gracious  and 
encouraging  message.  In  loving  embrace  He 
takes  these  foolish,  slow-hearted  Disciples  again 
to  His  heart.  Had  they  not  accompanied  Him 
during  the  past  three  years .''  Had  they  not 
trusted  Him,  even  although  they  did  not  under- 
stand Him .''  In  spite  of  hard  sayings,  of  de- 
fections, of  oppositions,  had  they  not  loyally 
clung  to  Him  .-'  He  cannot  forget  this.  In  His 
own  large  and  generous  way,  He  must  speak  as 
if  He  were  their  debtor  for  all  this  faithfulness, 
for  the  child-like  confidence  which  they  had  re- 
posed in  Him.  He  will  assure  them  of  the  true 
kingdom.     He  will  declare  to  them  the  princi- 


THE  SUPPER FIRST  WORDS.  39 

palities,  the  thrones  which  are  awaiting  them — 
thrones  not  such  as  they  dreamt  of,  but  better 
far;  thrones  in  which  they  shall  sit  with  Him 
as  His  assessors,  judging  the  tribes  of  Israel : 
"  in  which,  having  become  members  of  His 
body  through  the  participation  of  His  flesh  and 
blood,  in  the  power  of  His  spirit  and  of  His  love 
they  shall  serve  while  they  rule  :  "  stjer,  vol. 

"  Ye  are  they  who  have  continued  with  Me  in 
My  teinptatio7is,  and  I  appoint  tmto  you  a  king- 
dom as  My  Father  hath  appointed  unto  Me. 
That  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  My  table  in  My 
kingdom,  and  sit  on  thrones  judging  the  tzvelve 
tribes  of  Israel"  Vers.  28-; 


IV. 

THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

St  John  xiii.  1-16. 

"  I  am  among  you  as  he  that  seneth." 

Not,  as  might  be  supposed,  when  supper  was 
ended  ;  rather,  whilst  supper  is  proceeding ; 
possibly,  after  the  drinking  of  the  second  cup, 
when  the  custom  was  to  wash  the  hands.  Then 
Jesus  gives  the  great  sign  of  His  kingdom,  and, 
in  so  doing,  enforces  in  a  way  never  to  be  for- 
gotten His  rebuke  of  all  contentions  about  pre- 
cedences and  dignities.  The  unadorned  tale  of 
the  Evangelist  is  the  evidence  of  the  profound 
impression  made  by  the  event  which  he  relates. 
He  contrasts  the  real  and  essential  glory  of  the 
Lord  with  the  lowliness  of  the  service  He  per- 
forms. Reading  the  third  and  fourth  verses,  we 
feel  that  the  secret  strain  which  His  soul  re- 
peats is  that  elsewhere  expressed,  "  Behold 
what  manner  of  love!"  And  the  account  of  the 
action  is  such  as  only  one  who  had  been  an  eye 
witness  could  produce :  it  is  so  graphic  and 
vivid  in  its  minuteness  that  we  see  how  every 
feature  of  the   Lord   and    His  work  had  been 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  4 1 

photographed  in  the  mind.  The  Scripture  is 
this  :— 

"//<?  risetJi  from  supper ,  and  laid  aside  His 
garinents ;  and  took  a  towel,  and  girded  Him- 
self. After  that  He  poiireth  water  into  a  bason, 
and  began  to  wash  the  Disciples'  feet,  a7id  to 
wipe  them  with  the  towel  wJierewith  He  was 
girdedr  ^'"'-  4-  s- 

Let  the  reader  pause  for  an  instant  over  each 
part  of  this  description  :  the  calm,  dehberate 
rising  from  the  couch ;  the  stripping  from  the 
upper  part  of  the  body  of  the  simchah  and  the 
cetotieth — folding  them  up  and  laying  them  on 
a  place  by  themselves,  as  was  done  with  the 
clothes  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  ;  the 
encircling  of  the  waist  with  the  towel,  as  was 
the  fashion  of  the  menial ;  the  taking  of  the 
bason  which  had  been  put  behind  the  guests  in 
readiness  for  use,  and  filling  it  with  water ;  the 
disciples,  all  the  while,  held  in  wonder,  gazing 
on  their  Master,  and  anon  exchanging  glances 
each  with  the  other ;  the  wonder  passing  into  a 
stupefying  amazement  as  they  observe  Him 
beginning  to  do  what  only  a  slave  would  do,  to 
stoop  and  wash  their  feet.  Was  ever  deed  more 
strange  .-'  more  a  reversal  of  all  that  was  fitting 
to  the  relation  existing  between  Him  and  them.-' 

The  astonishment  is  expressed  by  Peter.  It 
has  been  thought — for  what  reason  we  cannot 
say — that  Judas  was  the  first  approached  by 


42  THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

Jesus,     I  take  it  that  Simon  was  the  first.     St 
ver.  6.         John's  "  Tkeu  Cometh  He  to  Simon  Peter,"  may- 
be accepted   as  "  So  cometh   He,   i.e.,  as  thus 
Pee  Revised  beginning  to  wash  the  Disciples."     And,  as  on 
previous  occasions,  Simon  is  the  interpreter  of 
the    sentiment   of  his    brethren :    when    Jesus 
would  pour  the  water  on  him,  the  exclamation, 
half  in   surprise,    and    half  in    indignation,    is, 
Ver.  6.         ^'  Lord,  dost  tJiou  wash  my  feet?" 

It  is  the  Humility  which  offends,  or  rather, 
the  form  which  the  Humility  assumes.  Shall 
we  blame  the  out-spoken  Apostle.'*  Do  not  most 
people  expect  their  great  man  to  comport  him- 
self in  a  distinguished  way — to  have  a  grand  air 
about  him  }  Condescension  is  well  because  it  is 
condescension  ;  in  the  bending  there  is  a  mani- 
fest and  graceful  bending.  Any  token  of  lowli- 
ness is  grateful  in  which  the  character  attributed 
to  the  hero  is  sustained,  through  which  men  are 
lifted  towards  his  level.  But  this  action  is  con- 
trary to  all  such  expectation  and  requirement. 
I  believe  that  if  the  Lord  had  said  to  Simon, 
"  Come,  take  the  towel  and  wash  my  feet," 
Simon  would  have  felt  the  graciousness  of  the 
command.  For  him  to  do  so  would  not  have 
been  out  of  place.  Nay,  in  view  of  the  solemni- 
ties of  the  evening,  he  might  have  felt  himself 
drawn  nearer  to  his  Lord  in  obeying  the  com- 
mand. But  for  his  Lord  to  take  the  towel  and 
do  the  office  of  the  slave  to  him — this  is  out  of 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  43 

the  question ;  something  quite  unseemly  and 
\\ithout  any  apparent  reason  for  it.  Perhaps, 
the  old  feeling  which  had  found  utterance  by 
the  lake  of  Galilee  comes  back — "  Depart  from 
me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  Anyway,  Lukevi.  i. 
there  is  much  of  the  old  impetuosity  which  had, 
even  in  former  days,  presumed  to  rebuke  the 
Master,  in  the  withdrawal  of  the  feet  from 
Jesus'  touch,  and  the  protest  against  Jesus' 
deed.  Let  it  suffice  to  notice  the  scope  of 
Jesus'  answer:  namely,  that,  not  at  that  moment, 
but  at  a  future  time,  His  perplexed  Disciple  will 
understand  what  now  puzzles  and  irritates  ;  he 
will  see  that  the  Humiliation  complained  of  is 
the  proper  and   abiding  glory  of  the  Son    of 

God.  Ver.  7. 

What  we  discern,  then,  in  the  incident  so 
lovingly  presented  by  the  Evangelist,  is  a  Parable 
or  symbol  of  the  Heavenly  Kingdom,  and  the 
greatness  which  that  Kingdom  recognizes. 
When  the  temper  or  conduct  of  any  person 
who  calls  himself  Christ's  is  opposed  to  its 
teaching,  the  servant  is  a  would-be-greater  man 
than  the  master.  It  is  the  pictorial  setting  forth 
of  "the  law  of  the  spirit  of  the  life  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Receiving  it  as  such,  three  points  are 
suggested : — 

The  Light  in  which  it  is  bathed. 

The  Love  by  which  it  is  glorified. 

The  Purity  on  which  it  insists. 


44 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 


Quoted  by 
Westcott — 
"  Speaker's 
Commen- 
tary," p.  150. 


In  the  sentence  with  which  he  introduces  the 
work  of  Christ,  St  John  reminds  us  that,  by- 
means  of  it,  we  are  taken  into  the  ligJit  of  tlie 
Kingdom  and  of  the  Eternal  Sonship  of  Christ. 
It  may  be  that  what  is  related  in  the  fourth 
verse  is  intended  to  contrast  with  that  which  is 
stated  in  the  third  :  ''Although  Jesus  knew  that 
the  Father  had  given  all  things  into  His  hand, 
and  that  He  came  from  God  and  went  to  God, 
yet,  He  riseth  from  supper,  &c."  But,  not  the 
less  is  it  evident  that  what  the  Apostle  would 
convey  is  that  Jesus'  action  is  in  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  both  His  Divine  Mission  and  His 
Divine  Person  :  that  it  is  congruous  to  the  truth 
of  the  one,  and  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  reality  of 
the  other.  It  is  the  King  in  whose  hand  is  uni- 
versal empire ;  it  is  the  Son  in  perfect  response 
to  the  Father's  mind,  and  enjoying  the  supreme 
complacency  of  His  Father's  love ;  who  pours 
the  water  into  the  bason,  and  begins  to  wash  the 
feet. 

This  is  an  offence  to  Peter,  because  he  does 
not  yet  know  who  his  master  is.  When  he 
does  know,  it  will  seem  as  consistent  with  His 
glory  as  now  it  seems  inconsistent.  Even 
Jewish  Rabbis  had  so  far  anticipated  the 
action.  "Among  men,"  they  said,  "the  slave 
washes  his  master  :  but  with  God  it  is  not  so!' 
Let  it  be  realized  that  Jesus  is  God  :  the  only 
one  of  whom  it  could  be  said  that  He  came 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  45 

forth  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father  into  the 
world,  and  that  He  goes  from  the  world  into 
the  bosom  of  the  Father: — then  the  surprise 
because  of  the  Humility  ceases.  It  remains 
wonderful :  but  this  because  He  is  the  wonder- 
ful. Once  let  us  comprehend  the  marvellous 
stooping  in  coming  into  the  world  at  all :  every 
instance  of  stooping  afterwards  is  only  harmoni- 
ous with  what  we  expect,  is  only  a  particular 
manifestation  of  the  transcendent  fact.  In 
this  exchange  of  master's  and  menial's  places, 
we  behold  "  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten 
of  the  Father,"  we  discern  the  Godhead  in  our  john  i.  14. 
Lord. 

For  how  shall  we  think  ot  the  greatness  of 
God  .''  Not  surely  as  if  it  were  an  indefinitely 
dilated  Kingship  of  the  Gentiles. 

Such  grandeur  were  but  a  created  thing, 

A  spectre,  terror,  and  a  grief, 
Out  of  all  keeping  with  a  world  so  calm, 

Oppressing  on  belief. 

No.  Pride  may  worship  the  magnified  image 
of  itself  But,  for  all  children  of  quietness, 
there  are — if  one  may  particularize  when  every 
act  is  a  lesson — two  special  tokens  of  God  in 
the  ministry  of  Jesus.  The  one.  His  answer  to 
a  question  of  the  disciples  betraying  the  same 
temper  as  that  which  has  shewn  itself  at  the 
table.     "  Who  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 


46  THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

heaven  ? "  The  answer  is,  a  little  child  set  in 
their  midst,  and  the  saying,  "  Whosoever  shall 
humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is 
Matt.xviii.  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Child- 
hood, in  its  self-unconsciousness,  its  pure, 
simple  joy  in  loving,  its  beauty  of  obedience,  is 
the  sign  of  the  High  and  Lofty  One.  Where 
there  is  a  little  child  in  the  house,  there  God 
is  preaching  a  sermon  to  all  that  are  in  the 
house.  To  receive  that  child  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  seeing  and  welcoming  the  Christ-heart 
in  all  that  is  genuinely  child-like,  is  to  receive 
the  God-heart  also.  "Verily,  O  Lord,  this 
childhood  is  life.  Verily,  O  Lord,  when  Thy 
tenderness  shall  have  made  the  world  great, 
then,  children  like  Thee,  will  all  men  smile  in 
"  Unspoken  thc  facc  of  thc  grcat  God." 

Sermons"  by  jj^^  ^^j^^j.  gj^j^  ^f  Y)Wm&  grcatncss  alluded  to 
M'Donaid,  jg  .^^  scrvicc  of  the  Lord  now  set  before  us. 
It,  too,  declares  the  infinite  humbleness  of  God : 
but  there  is  in  it  a  farther  and  fuller  eloquence. 
"Who  is  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God,  who 
dwelleth  on  high,  who  humbleth  Himself  to 
behold  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  the 
rs.  cxiii.5.6.  earth,"  exclaims  the  Psalmist.  In  Jesus'  action, 
there  is  not  merely  the  beholding  of  the  small 
and  making  room  for  it  in  the  lap  of  the  Eter- 
nal, there  is  the  Highest  Himself  becoming  the 
Lowest,  declaring,  in  symbol  of  exhaustless 
meaning,    that    service    is    diviner    than    rule. 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  47 

obedience  than  command,  that  the  glory  of  God 
is  the  capacity  of  measureless  sacrifice.  The 
Lord,  bending  over  the  Disciples'  feet,  in  the 
form  of  the  slave — such  is  the  greatness  of  God. 
When  that  deed,  then,  is  truly  the  light 
of  our  seeing,  not  imitated  as  Emperors  and 
Popes  are  wont  to  do — a  mere  piece  of  stage- 
effect — but  accepted  as  that  in  which  the  Lord 
is  to  be  recognized  :  when,  in  its  teaching,  we 
discern  that  the  only  dignity  worth  having  is 
that  of  ministry  which  makes  self  of  no  reputa- 
tion, then  is  benevolence  purified  and  strength- 
ened. It  becomes  not  a  mere  impulse,  it  is  a 
spirit  of  life:  not  an  amusement  or  a  luxury,  but 
a  business ;  not  an  occasional  spasm  but  a 
habit  of  will.  It  shines,  for  it  is  bathed  in  the 
light  of  the  life  in  Christ. 

But  let  us  observe  more  closely  the  love  by 
wJiich  the  transactio)i  ixlatcd  is  glorified.  It  is 
not  quite  certain  whether  or  not  the  first  verse 
of  this  chapter  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  paragraph 
by  itself,  as  separate  from  the  narrative  of  the 
washing  to  which  the  second  and  third  verses 
are  the  introduction.  But,  however  this  may 
be,  the  first  verse  is  exhibitive  of  the  conscious- 
ness from  which  all  that  was  said  and  done  that 
evening  originated.  And,  truly,  is  it  not  a 
wonderful  picture  alike  of  the  patience  and  the 
wisdom  of  love  .'' 


48      THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

Its  patience. — "  Having  loved  His  own  which 
Ver.  I.  were  in  the  world,  He  loved  them  to  the  end." 
The  Apostle  feels  as  he  writes,  how  persevering, 
how  long-sufifering  his  gracious  Master  had 
been.  Had  there  not  been  much  to  tempt  the 
withdrawal,  at  least  to  test  the  constancy,  of  His 
love  ?  Much  in  the  conduct  of  the  Disciples, 
much  in  their  hardness  of  heart  ;  casting  a  look 
forward,  much  in  their  failure  to  watch  with 
Him,  and  their  cowardice  and  faithlessness  ? 
It  is  hard  to  love  when  there  is  no  fuel  in  the 
objects  of  the  devotion  for  the  flame.  What 
could  He  find  in  these  dull-hearted  fishermen  .? 
But  He  loved  them,  for  they  were  "  His  own." 
They  were  His  Father's  gift  to  Him.  They 
were  part  of  His  riches,  part  of  Himself  And 
thus  He  loved  them  all  through — "  to  the  end  " 
or  "  to  the  uttermost."  Never  more  gracious 
was  the  love  than  at  the  end.  In  the  immediate 
prospect  of  the  Passion  and  the  Cross,  the  last 
discourse  and  the  last  prayer  are  all  for  them. 
He  laid  aside  His  garment  that  evening,  for  He 
had  laid  aside  a  great  deal  more.  He  had 
sacrificed  Himself  that  He  might  be  their  Good 
Shepherd,  giving  His  life  for  them. 

Is  not  this  a  lesson,  my  reader,  as  to  our 
bearing  towards  those  whom  God  has  given  us  .? 
Who  are  they  .■•  To  begin  with,  our  own  kith 
and  kin.  In  the  circle,  still  wider,  they  are,  all 
who  are  associated  with  us  as  brethren  in  the 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  49 

Lord.  In  the  widest  circle,  they  are,  according 
to  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan,  all  and 
any  who  need  our  help,  who  appeal  to  us  on 
the  ground  of  some  want  in  them  asking  supply 
from  us.  Well,  then,  if  Christ  could  love  these 
slow,  foolish,  men  of  Galilee,  if  He  can  bear  and 
forbear  as  He  does  with  us,  may  we  not  per- 
severe in  our  love,  despite  rebuffs  and  provoca- 
tions of  one  kind  or  another,  not  allowing  the 
sense  of  union  to  be  broken  by  things  which 
pain  and  offend,  accounting  any  whom  God 
sends  to  us  as  His  gift — part  of  our  possession  in 
Him — and  stooping  to  them  in  lowliness  and  self- 
repression  .''  And  when  we  can  find  nothing  in 
themselves  to  interest,  should  we  not  draw  our 
interest  in  them  from  God's  interest  in  them,  and 
so  receive  them  as  Christ  received  His  own,  whom 
He  loved  "  to  the  end  ?  "  "  When  I  leave  Thy 
table,"  says  Tholuck,  "  refreshed  by  Thy  love, 
I  will  meet  all  my  brethren  with  a  new  heart. 
They  are  not  merely  my  brethren,  they  are  also  Hours  of 

TJ,,',^^  "  Christian 

J  nine.  Devotion. 

This  is  the  patience,  behold  also  the  ivisdoni  p^'  ^*^'  ^'''•' 
of  love — its  power  of  finding  and  using  the 
means  adapted  to  the  end  which  it  regards. 
The  verses  from  the  13th  to  the  i6th  are  distinct 
as  to  this,  that  the  purpose  of  the  Lord,  in  rising 
from  the  table,  was  to  pass  His  disciples  into  a 
higher  standard  in  the  education  which  He  was 
conducting.  "  If  /,  your  Lord  and  Master,  have 
D 


50  THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

ivashcd  your  feet ;  ye  also  ought  to  tvash  one 
another's  feet."  What  would  these  disciples 
connect  with,  what  meaning  would  they  put 
into,  this  washing  ?  First,  I  think,  through 
Christ's  manner  and  the  words  which  fell  from 
His  lips,  they  would  see  in  it  a  symbol  of  separate- 
ness  from  tJie  soil  of  evil ;  and  next,  in  reference 
to  the  universal  practice,  they  would  see  in  it  a 
preparation  for  a  feast — for  good  things  which 
God  has  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.  The 
twofold  thought  applies  to  Christian  life  and 
action. 

To  wash  one  another's  feet  is,  in  the  deeper 
meaning  of  the  thing,  to  help  one  anotJier  ant  of  the 
evil  that  is  in  the  world,  to  aid  one  another  in  the 
keeping  of  a  pure  conscience  a7id  of  a  wholesome 
and  holy  life.  This  assuredly  must  be  our  first 
concern  as  to  those  whom  God  has  given  us. 
Our  love  will  show  itself  by  counting  nothing 
too  lowly,  and  nothing  too  hard,  by  which  we 
m,ay  strengthen  against  sin — lead  into  the  way  of 
peace,  or  at  least  witness  for  the  eternally  right 
and  good.  For  example,  supposing  one  has 
wronged  you,  really  wronged  you,  injured  you  at 
the  innermost  place  of  your  heart,  spoken  or  done 
what  you  feel  was  not  only  an  unkindness  and 
a  personal  pain,  but  an  untruth  between  him 
and  God ; — to  carry  out  the  idea  symbolised 
by  Christ,  you  must  not  merely  forgive  that  one, 
you  must  try  to  get  him  out  of  that  untruth 


THE  WASHING  OF  TPIE  FEET.  5  I 

which  is  between  him  and  God,  to  have  the  soul 
cleansed  from  the  evil  that  it  has  contracted. 
And  a  man  is  great,  Christ-like,  in  the  measure 
in  which  he  can  lay  aside  merely  personal  con- 
siderations, and  in  tender  yet  faithful  love  deal 
with,  that  he  may  win,  his  brother.  Did  not 
Jesus  wash  the  feet  of  Judas,  into  whom  Satan 
had  entered  ?  Did  He  not  try,  even  to  the  last 
moment,  to  save  him  from  his  lie  .-'  Brainerd, 
in  his  younger  days,  carried  away  by  an  indiscreet 
zeal,  provoked  the  censure  of  his  seniors  at 
college,  and  was  severely,  too  severely,  punished. 
In  later  years  he  saw  his  error.  He  had  been 
unkindly  treated  ;  but  he  could  say,  "  I  would 
willingly  humble  myself  before  those  whom  my 
error  led  into  sin,  and  ask  their  forgiveness, 
although  they  should  still  refuse  to  own  that  in 
which  they  wronged  me."  Was  not  that  Christ- 
like indeed  .''  Is  it  not  truly  divine  to  come 
down  from  a  vantage  ground  and  be  nowhere, 
that  God's  love  may  be  manifested,  and  men 
may  indeed  know  it  in  its  separation  from  evil  ? 
But  we  recollect  that  washing  entered  largely 
into  the  hospitalities  of  the  East — that  it  was 
t/ie  rcfresJuneiit  wJiicJi  prepai'ed  for,  welcomed 
to,  some  abimdance  wJncJi  zvas  provided  for 
another.  Rising  from  supper,  the  soul  filled 
with  the  thought  of  the  kingdom  which  would 
be  opened  when  He  had  overcome  the  sharpness 
of  death, — is   it   too   much  to  think  that  this 


52  THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

reference  was  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  when  He 
gave  the  example  that  we  should  do  as  He  had 
done  ?  What  more  truly  an  imitation  of  God 
than  to  seek  out  the  dust-soiled  and  worn  and 
weary,  and  express  the  desire  of  infinite  love 
"  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive 
isa.  ivii.  IS.  the  heart  of  the  contrite  one."  The  more  self 
is  sunk  and  lost  in  the  consciousness  of  what 
God  is  seeking  in  them,  and  of  the  welcome 
in  God's  heart  for  them,  the  more  beautiful 
the  ministry.  Silver  and  gold  this  Christ  had 
none,  but  what  He  had  He  gave.  He  had  the 
love  of  the  Father ;  He  had  the  kingdom  of 
God;  He  had  the  eternal  life;  He  had  the  new 
brotherhood  ;  He  had  all  the  treasures,  for  He 
was  Himself  the  fountain-fulness  ;  and  He  went 
down  into  the  depths  of  man's  sin  that  He 
might  make  the  sinner  ready  for  the  Supper  of 
God.  To  be  and  to  do  anything,  if  only  another 
is  made  a  partaker  of  our  good, — this  is  to  do 
as  He  has  done  to  us.  * 

But  the  action  which  we  are  considering, 
whilst  glorified  by  love  "  to  the  uttermost,"  is 
the  solemn  enforcement  of  the  pnrity  demanded 
from  Christ's  disciple.  Simon  Peter,  as  we  have 
seen,  remonstrated  when  he  saw  his  Master 
stooping  behind  him.  The  reply  of  Jesus,  so 
gentle  yet  so  authoritative,  "What  I  do  thou 
knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know  here- 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  53 

after"— in  effect  reminding  him  that  the  true 
love  is  manifested  in  obedience  which  waits  till 
"the  Lord  shall  Himself  explain  things  now 
beyond  our  reach  "—only  calls  forth  the  vehe- 
ment "  Thou  Shalt  never  wash  my  feet."  It  is  Ver.  s. 
necessary  that  Jesus  deal  with  His  follower 
with  sharpness  and  decision. 

His  peremptory  never  is  met  by  the  sentence, 
''  If  I  zvash  thee  7iot,  thoit  hast  ?w  part  zvitk  Me!'  Ver.  s. 
"You  perceive,"  writes  Krummacher,  "how  the 
more   profound    and    mystic    meaning   of    our 
Lord's  act  shines  forth  in  these  words— namely, 
as  having  reference  to  the  blood  of  atonement,' 
to    forgiveness,    justification,    and    purification 
from  sin.     You  know  how  much  lies  concealed 
in  this  passage,  and  how  every  syllable  has  its 
profound  signification.       '  If  /  wash  thee  not' 
Yes.    Thou  Lord  Jesus  must  do  it,  for  who  ever 
purified  himself  from  sin.     'If  I  do  not  ivash 
thee.'     Yes,  thou  must  wash  us;  for  teaching, 
instructing,  and  setting  us  an  example  is  not 
sufficient.      'If  I  wash    thee  not'      Certainly, 
what  does  it  avail  me  if  Peter  or  Paul  is  cleansed,' 
and  I  remain  defiled }     I  must  be  forgiven  and 
feel  that  I  am  absolved  ;  and  it  remains  eter- 
nally true  that  he  who  is  not  washed   in   the 
blood  of  Christ  has  no  part  with  Him  or  in  the 
blessings  of  His  kingdom."     It  was  this  inner  "The  suffer- 
meanmg  which  the  Apostle  apprehended  ;  and  ^i""'"""'^ 
the  tone  of  his  speech  is  completely  altered. 


54  THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET. 

ver.  g.  "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  my  hands  and  my 
head."  "  I  cannot  have  enough  of  this  cleans- 
ing. I  am  a  sinful  man.  Wash  me  throughly. 
My  hands — all  the  activities  of  my  body ;  my 
head — all  the  intelligence  and  capacity  of 
thought  and  will  that  is  in  me  ;  my  whole  self, 
as  well  as  my  feet.  Lord  purify  and  sanctify 
me  wholly."  Thus  Christ's  victory  is  gained. 
The  opposing  will  is  conquered.  He  concludes 
His  conversation  with  the  assurance  that  already 
the  disciple  has  been  washed  in  the  laver  of  re- 
generation ;  that  he  and  his  brethren  were  clean 
through  the  word  which  He  had  spoken  unto 
them — ah!  there  is  the  addition,  "but  not  all" 

Ver.  lo  — and  one  thus  washed  needs  not  "  save  to  wash 
his  feet,"  to  be  purged  from  the  outward  pollu- 
tion gathered  in  the  daily  walk,  that  the  will 
which  has  been  surrendered  to  the  Lord  may  be 
kept  "  unspotted  from  the  world." 

My  readers,  the  principle  must  never  be  over- 
looked that  Christ-like  purity  is  needed  for 
Christ-like  service.  As  He  was  wholly  the 
Father's,  so  we  must  be  wholly  His,  yielding  our- 
selves to  Him,  that  all  His  work  maybe  done  in 
us.  There  are  many  things,  in  His  discipline,  His 
way  to  us,  for  which  we  cannot  account.  There 
are  times  when  our  hot  and  impatient  spirit 
will  be  ready  to  chafe  against  His  authority,  and 
to  question  the  reason  of  His  procedure — times 
of    perplexity  when   we   shall    feel    ourselves 


THE  WASHING  OF  THE  FEET.  55 

unable  to  rouse  the  energy,  or  when  the  energy 
of  the  soul  seems  to  draw  away  from  Him. 
Nevertheless — 

"  To  the  lowly  soul 
He  doth  Himself  unpart, 
And  for  His  cradle  and  His  throne 
Chooseth  the  pure  in  heart." 

Only  let  us  be  true  to  Him  and  He  will  teach 

us,  as  we  are  able  to  bear  it,  the  secret  of  all 

that  He  is  doing  for  us,  and  help  us  into  all 

that    He   would    do   by  us — our  hearts  being 

purified  by  this  faith  to  that  "  unfeigned  love  of 

the  brethren  "  which  unites  to  Him  who  washed  •-  Peter  1. 22. 

the  disciples'  feet. 


THE  BETRAYER. 

St  John  xiii.  18-30. 

"That  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed." 

There  are  two  names  in  Scripture  to  which  a 
fearful  character  is  appended,  "Jeroboam,  the  son 
of  Nehat,-ca/io  made  Israel  to  sin^'  "Judas  Iscariot, 
one  of  the  twelve  ivJio  also  betrayed  Him."  It  is 
with  this  man.  Apostle  and  also  Betrayer,  that 
we  have  now  to  do.  He  had  received  the  grace 
of  God  in  vain  ;  even  the  crowning  grace  which 
.  he  had  shared  with  the  other  members  of  the 
family  of  Christ  had  failed  to  melt  the  icy  cold- 
ness of  the  heart  into  which  the  devil  had  put 
the  hellish  thought.  "  He  knew  iv/io  should 
betray  him ;  therefore  said  He,  Ye  are  not  all 
John  xiii.  ii  cleanT 

No  sooner  has  Jesus  "  taken  his  garments  " 
and  again  seated  Himself  than  the  consciousness 
of  this  presence  comes  down,  like  a  darkening 
cloud,  on  His  spirit.  Who  can  estimate  the  self- 
restraint  which  had  been  exercised  during  the 
time  that  Judas  had  been  associated  with  Him  ! 


THE  BETRAYER.  57 

Why  he  was  one  of  the  chosen,  why  the  Lord 
selected  a  man  whom  He  knew  to  be  a  Devil 
as  one  of  His  companions,  endowing  him  with 
"  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,"  trusting  him, 
assigning  him  a  place  of  special  honour  and 
importance  as  the  treasurer  of  His  household — 
this  is  one  of  the  "  secret  things  which  belong  to 
the  Lord  our  God."  But  what  a  burden  must 
he  have  been  on  the  pure  and  unspotted 
heart  of  Christ !  What  a  continual  sorrow  and 
heaviness  to  detect  the  signs  of  the  evil  that 
was  working  within  him — the  decadence  of  the 
first  love,  the  gradual  encroachment  of  a  sour 
worldly  temper  on  all  that  was  most  generous 
in  His  nature,  the  changing  attitude  of  mind 
towards  Himself  as  it  became  more  and  more 
manifest  that  the  idea  of  the  kingship  with  which 
he  had  invested  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  nothing" 
better  than  a  dream.  Now,  the  crisis  has  come. 
Heaven  and  hell  are  in  that  room  in  mysterious 
conjunction.  And  the  Lord  is  troubled  in  Ver 
spirit,  and  ominous  are  the  words  which  fall 
from  His  lips. 

We  can  discern  a  gradation  in  the  announce- 
ment of  the  Betrayer.  There  is,  first,  a  general 
intimation — one  calculated  to  attract  attention 
— that  in  which  the  Disciples  are  reminded  of 
the  pathetic  word  of  the  Psalmist  as  to  "the 
familiar  friend  "  who  has  lifted  up  his  heel 
against  him.     There  is,  next,  the  testifying  out  crps.^xi 


1.9. 


58  THE  BETRAYER. 

of  deep  emotion,  "Amen,  amen,  I  say  unto  yon, 
Ver.2i.        one  of  you  shall  betray  me."     This  is  more  dis- 
tinct, bidding  each  member  of  the  amazed  com- 
pany ask,  "  Is  it  I  ? "    and    prompting  Simon 
Peter  to  motion  John  to  inquire,  "  Lord,  who  is 
Vers.  24-25.    it  ? "     Then  follows  the  sentence,  "  He  it  is  to 
Ver.  26.        ivJiom  1  shall  give  the  sop  when  I  have  dipped  it.'' 
It  would  seem  that  Judas  was  seated  so  near 
the  Lord  as  to  dip  the  piece  of  flesh  or  bread 
which  he  might  take  during  the  meal  in  the 
same  dish.     To  him  the  morsel,  moistened  by 
the   sauce   on   the   table,   was   given.      In   the 
excitement,    it    may   be,   the    eleven    did    not 
observe  this  ;    if  they  did,  they  failed   to  ap- 
prehend the  force  of  the  saying  which  followed 
— and  is  it  strange  that  to  their  simplicity  of 
soul  the  deed  on  which  their  companion  was 
bent  was  almost  incredible  i* — the  saying  which 
Matt. xxvi.   hastened  the  fatal  moment,  "  Thou  hast  said" 
Ver.  27.        "  That  thou  doest,  do  quickly T 

At  what  period  of  the  evening  this  transaction 
occurred  it  is  impossible  to  determine.  Whether 
it  preceded  or  followed  the  institution  of  the 
Eucharist  is  a  point  to  which  an  importance,  I 
cannot  but  think  often  exaggerated,  has  been 
attached.  Four  opinions  have  been  held  and 
defended  by  reference  both  to  what  is  said  and 
what  is  omitted  in  the  sacred  narrative. 

I.  That  the  announcement  of  the  Betrayer 
and  his  departure  were  before  both  the  breaking 


THE  BETRAYER.  59 

and   giving  of  the  bread  and  the  cup,  as  the  Matt.  xxvi. 
narratives  of  St  Matthew  and  St  Mark  suggest.    Mark  xiv. 

2.  That  they  were  after  the  breaking  and 
giving  of  the  bread  and  the  cup,  as  the  narrative 

of  St  Luke  impHes.  Luke  xxii. 

3.  That  the  viore  general  intimations  of  the 
traitor  were  made  at  an  early  stage  of  the  meal. 
The  meal  then  proceeded  ;  after  the  bread  and 
the  cup,  there  was  the  sign  which  Judas  under- 
stood, and  in  consequence  of  which  he  left  the 
supper  party. 

4.  That  the  more  general  intimations /;-^r^^i?^ 
the  breaking  of  the  bread,  of  which  Judas  partook. 
The  more  special  and  private  preceded  the  drink- 
ing of  the  Clip  when  supper  was  ended,  so  that 
of  the  cup  Judas  did  not  partake. 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  last  mentioned 
opinion  is  untenable.  The  account  of  St  John 
will  not  allow  us  to  suppose  such  a  dividing  of 
the  words  of  Christ.  The  third  of  the  views  is 
possible.  Many  indeed  insert  the  consecration 
of  the  bread  and  wine  between  the  22d  and  23d 
verses  of  the  chapter  in  the  fourth  gospel,  that 
is,  after  Jesus  had  testified,  and  before  He  had 
given  the  sop.  But  I  must  regard  this  order 
as  intrinsically  improbable.  Surely,  when  the 
shadow  was  resting  on  the  soul,  when,  so  to  say, 
the  Lord  was  in  the  middle  of  His  final  dealing 
with  Judas,  this  was  not  the  moment  at  which 
we  can  suppose  the  institution  of  a  new  mode 


6o  TPIE  BETRAYER. 

of  communion  and  bond  of  love.  Between  the 
first  and  the  second  of  the  opinions  referred 
to,  on  the  whole — not  denying  that  there  are 
probabilities  on  the  other  side  also — I  incline  to 
the  first.  There  is  not  much  force  in  the  argu- 
ment founded  on  the  charge  when  the  cup  was 
Matt.  xxvi.  passed,  "  Drink  ye  all  of  it  " — an  expression,  it 
^^'  is  urged,  which  "  leads  us  to  suppose  that  the 

Aiford's       same  persons,  the  twelve,  were  present."     Not 

Greek  Tests.- 

ment,  p.  24S.  ncccssarily  so  ;  the  all  in  the  charge  might  have 
Matt.  xxvi.  been  equivalent  to  the  "  all  ye  shall  be  offended," 
which  included  only  the  eleven.  And,  weighing 
the  record  of  St  Luke  with  those  of  the  other 
two  Synoptists  and  of  St  John,  there  is  this  to 
be  said  : — St  Luke  is  content  with  a  vague  and 
general  summing  up  of  the  Lord's  words  about 
the  traitor;  the  other  Synoptists  are  more  definite 
and  particular  ;  whilst  St  John  gives  at  consider- 
able length  the  speech  of  Jesus,  and  the  heart- 
searching  of  the  Apostles.  I  accept  the  guidance 
of  the  more  circumstantial  histories.  Two  are 
explicit  as  to  time.  In  the  fourth  gospel  we  are 
reminded  that  the  supper  was  proceeding  when 
Judas  was  declared,  the  stage  of  dipping  the 
morsels  of  flesh  in  the  sauce  having  not  yet 
passed.  One  such  morsel  thus  dipped  was  the 
token,  immediately  followed  by  departure.  But 
the  cup  was  not  blessed  until  a  later  stage — 
until  the  supper  was  ended.  "  If  this  view  be 
correct,  we  must  suppose  that  the  departure  of 


THE  BETRAYER.  6  I 

the  traitor  took  place  after  Matthew  xxvi.  25, 
and  that  verse  26,  '  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus 
took  bread  and  blessed  it,'  refers  to  a  resumption 
of  the  supper  after  the  interruption  caused  by 
his  leaving  the  apartment."  Eiiicofs 

Historical 
Lectures,  p. 

Passing  from  the  question  as  to  the  place  in  ^^^' 
the  course  of  the  evening  to  be  assigned  to  the 
discovery  of  the  Betrayer,  let  us  reflect  on  the 
tragic  story  of  his  life. 

Imagination  reverts  to  the  period  of  child- 
hood :  think  of  him  as  the  fair  boy,  whose  pre- 
sence gladdens  the  house  of  Simon  of  Kerioth. 
He  has  received  the  name  Judas — "  the  confes- 
sor "  or  "  the  praise  of  God."  Who  could  have 
anticipated,  watching  the  romp  of  the  bright- 
eyed  child,  that  over  him,  long  years  afterwards, 
the  Incarnate  Truth  would  say,  "  Better  that  he 
had  never  been  born."  Oh,  sad  mystery  and  Markxiv.21 
pain  of  love !  How  often  repeated !  How 
many  the  parents  doomed  to  sob  over  the 
misery  of  manhood  or  womanhood  :  "  Would 
God  our  child  had  never  been  born,  or  that 
we  had  laid  him  long  since  in  the  narrow 
grave  ! " 

I  suppose  that,  as  he  grew  up,  the  son  of 
Simon  developed  a  nature  full  of  force,  practi- 
cal yet  impulsive,  with  tendencies  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  influences  which  might  gain  the 
ascendancy,  would  render  him  a  prominent  per- 


62  THE  BETRAYER. 

son  in  his  generation,  either  for  good  or  for  evil. 
What  moved  him  to  attach  himself  to  Jesus  has 
not  been  disclosed.    We  do  not  read  of  any  call 
addressed  to  him  to  leave  his  work  or  his  home. 
But  we  may  take  for  granted  that,  in  joining 
the  company  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  he 
acted,  if  not  from  high  spiritual  motives,  at  least 
in  good  faith.     And  his  aptitudes  were  recog- 
nised by  Christ,  for  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
chest  or  box  of  the  little  flock,  and  was  called 
to  be  one  of  the  Apostles.     How  it  came  about 
that  he,  the  chosen  Apostle,  was  transformed 
into  the  devil,  which  Christ  declared  him  to  be, 
we  can  only  infer  from  a  hint  given  by  St  John. 
When  stating  the  objection  taken  by  Judas  to 
the  extravagance  of  Mary,  who  anointed  the 
feet  of  her  Lord,  the  evangelist  adds,  "  TJiis  Jic 
said,  not  that  he  ca^'ed  for  the  poor ;  but  because 
lie  was  a  thief,  and  had  the  bag,  and  bare  ivhat 
was  put  therein."     A  man's  weakness  is  gene- 
rally in  the  region  of  his  strength  ;  his  tempta- 
tions are  developed  by  his  opportunities.     The 
son  of  Simon  had  administrative  capacity.     He 
had  an  eye  for  business,  as  we  might  say.    Gra- 
dually the  avaricious  spirit  dominated.     First 
there  came  the  demon  of  disappointment.     "This 
Jesus  of  Nazareth — is  he  the  person  whom  you 
took  him  to  be.''  where  is  the  kingdom,  with  the 
power  and  the  glory,  which  you  expected  }  why 
keep  to  him  ?  "    And  with  this  demon  was  joined 


THE  BETRAYER.  63 

the  fiend  of  covetousness.  "  Whilst  you  are 
with  him,  use  the  box  for  your  own  ends." 
And  so,  by  degrees,  fainter  and  ever  fainter 
became  the  torch  of  his  zeal ;  feebler  and  ever 
feebler  the  opposition  to  the  strange  gods  whose 
fire  was  burning  in  his  worldly  heart.  He  passed 
into  the  condition  of  the  hypocrite  ;  for  his  ad- 
herence to  Christ  was  no  longer  a  reality.  And 
on  the  occasion  of  the  supper  in  Simon's  house 
at  Bethany,  the  word  of  Christ  proved  to  him 
that  he  had  been  detected.  From  that  moment 
"  he  no  longer  guided  himself,  another  was 
dragging  him  behind  him  ;  his  feet  were  stum- 
bling on  the  dark  mountains." 

Another  explanation  has  been  given.  The 
act  of  Judas  in  entering  into  a  compact  with  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  has  been  represented  as 
"  a  miscalculation."  Like  his  brethren,  he  had 
never  of  course  realised  the  true  nature  of  Christ 
and  His  kingdom.  *'  In  this  only  he  outran 
them — that  sharing  in  their  blindness,  he  greatly 
exceeded  them  in  presumption."  Weary  with 
the  delay  in  Christ's  assertion  of  the  Messiah- 
ship,  he  resolved  at  length  "  to  precipitate  him 
into  action  by  a  force  from  without,  and  throw 
him  into  the  centre  of  some  popular  movement, 
such  as,  once  beginning  to  revolve,  could  not  after- 
wards be  suspended  or  checked.  The  league  with 
the  authorities  was  the  mode  by  which  he  sought 
thus  to  force  the  hand  of  his  Master.    It  was  when 


64  THE  BETRAYER. 

he  saw  his  plan  miscarry,  his  hope  melt  away, 
that  the  remorse  at  having  been  the  means  of 
the  spilling  of  innocent  blood  hurried  him  to- 
DeQuincey  wardsthe  suicide's  death."  Such  is  the  theory  pro- 
jLdasls^°"  pounded  by  ingenious  writers.  I  do  not  wonder 
at  their  doing  so.  For  the  betrayal  sounds  a  sad 
indictment  against  our  poor  human  nature  ;  and 
one  would  fain,  in  charity,  grasp  at  any  statement 
which,  consistently  with  a  regard  to  truth,  could 
remove  from  the  name  of  Iscariot  the  blackness 
of  darkness  which  seems  to  encompass  it.  But 
the  theory  will  not  stand  investigation.  It  cannot 
be  reconciled  with  the  distinct  testimony  of  Jesus, 
with  His  horror  of  spirit,  with  His  ringing  "  Woe 
to  that  man,"  with  the  scope  of  all  the  Scrip- 
tures concerning  him.  Its  only  authority  is  the 
brain  of  its  projectors.  No.  Charity  must  hold 
to  the  truth  even  when  it  cannot  rejoice  in  it ; 
when  it  can  only  lift  up  the  hands  of  a  holy 
amazement,  or  shed  the  tears  of  a  holy  sorrow. 
What  is  the  direction  of  the  true  charity  ? 
It  calls  sin,  sin  ;  has  no  glosses,  no  refinements, 
no  ingenious  accounting  for  what  is  evil  in 
God's  sight.  But  it  prompts  two  things. 
Reticence  as  to  the  ultimate  fate  of  the  sinner. 
It  leaves  every  man  with  his  Maker  and  Judge, 
and  declines  for  itself  the  judgment-seat.  There 
is  a  fine  reserve  in  the  utterance  of  St  Peter  as 
Acts i.  25.  to  Judas — he  went  "to  his  own  place."  Re- 
served as  to  another,  charity  is  nnsparing  in  the 


THE  BETRAYER.  65 

summons  to  each  person  to  ask,  Is  it  I?    What 

was  done  by  one  of  mankind  is  possible  for 

any  one  of  mankind.     If  we  have  been   kept 

from  the  great   transgression,  whose,   whence, 

has  been  the  strength  ?     May  there  not,  after 

all,  be  approaches  to  it  in  our  own  character 

and  history  ?     Or,  may  there  not,  at  other  points 

of  our    nature,    be    yieldings    to    sin  ?      "  Let 

us  search  and  try  our  ways,  and  turn  again  to 

the  Lord.     Let  us  lift  up  our  heart   with  our 

hands  unto  God  in  the  heavens."  Lamenta.  iii 

40, 41. 

Judas  sits  at  the  supper-table.  The  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  for  which  he  had  undertaken  to 
guide  the  minions  of  Priest  and  Scribe  to  his 
Master  are  in  his  purse.  He  cannot  yet  break 
away.  "Hold  Him  fast,"  he  said  afterwards  tojiatt. xxvi. 
the  soldiers.  "  Aye,  thou  false-hearted  Apostle,  ^^' 
He  has  held  thee  fast.  Even  now,  the  cry  of 
the  Saviour's  heart  is.  How  shall  I  give  thee 
up  .^  See  the  hand  is  stretched  forth.  It  offers 
thee  a  token  of  kindness,  the  morsel  which  He 
Himself  has  dipped— affecting  sign  that  the 
old  relation  is  still  unbroken.  Wilt  thou  not 
surrender  to  this  last  appeal .?  Wilt  thou  not 
pour  out  thy  guilty  heart  before  that  patient, 
yearning  gentleness  ?  It  is  the  last  moment 
of  the  eleventh  hour ;  only  this  one  remaining 
moment,  Judas  !    Judas  ! — " 

Alas,  what  means  the  opening  door .?     Is  it 

E 


66  THE  BETRAYER. 

the  door  of  grace  ?  or  the  door  of  judgment  ? 
One  coming  in,  coming  to  the  Christ  ?  or,  one 
going  out,  going  from  the  Christ  ?  That  poor 
soul  is  going  out — 

The  door  is  closed.  He  has  gone  out.  There 
is  a  terrible  power  on  him.  He  had  not  meant 
to  do  it  just  then.  But  now  he  must  go. 
"  That  thou  doest  do  quickly,"  has  been  spoken. 
johnxiii. 30.  Immediately  he  must  depart ;  "and  it  is  nighty 
A  grand,  awful  word  !  It  is  night,  for  he  has 
left  Christ.  The  blackness  of  the  eternal  dark- 
ness enwraps  him,  as  it  enwraps  every  man 
between  whom  and  the  love  and  light  of  God 
there  is  the  door  which  himself  has  closed. 


VI. 

THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF. 

St  John  xiii,  31,  32. 

"  Now  is  the  Son  of  man  glorified." 

"  Now,"  a  burden  has  been  removed,  a  darkness 
has  passed,  a  restraint  has  been  withdrawn.  It 
is  a  word  of  relief — the  bird  in  the  human  heart 
of  Jesus  flying  again  to  its  mountain.  The  pre- 
sence of  Judas  has  hindered  the  revelation 
of  Himself  to  His  disciples.  At  length  the 
word  has  been  spoken  which  released  the  be- 
trayer for  his  deed  and  Christ  for  His  work. 
"  Therefore,  when  he  was  go?ie  out,  Jesus  said, 

NOIV "  John  xiii.  3t. 

What  farther  }  May  reader  and  writer  be  so 
taught  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth  as  to  "compre- 
hend with  all  saints  what  is  the  length,  and 
depth,  and  breadth,  and  height"  of  the  twofold  Ephes.iii  is. 
glorifymg  —  the  present  and  the  future  —  set 
forth  in  the  saying  which,  we  suppose,  im- 
mediately followed  the  departure  of  the  son  of 
perdition. 


68  THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF. 

Noiv  is  the  Son  of  man  glorified, 

A  nd  God  is  glorified  in  Hint, 

And  God  shall  glorify  Hivi  in  Himself 

John  xiii.  31,  A  nd  straightway  shall  He  glorify  Him. 

32. 

"  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified''  The  ex- 
clamation thrills  with  the  sense  of  triumph. 
It  is  an  outburst  of  Saviour-joy.  The  sluice 
has  been  withdrawn  and  victorious  love  pours 
itself  freely  forth.  When  we  look  back  to  the 
chapter  immediately  preceding,  we  see  how  dif- 
ferent is  the  expression  of  feeling  in  it  from 
that  which  now  and  henceforth  marks  the 
discourse  of  Jesus.  In  both  there  is  not  so 
much  the  anticipation  as  the  consciousness  of 
the  hour.  But,  in  the  former  chapter,  there  is 
the  alternation  of  joy  and  sorrow,  sorrow  and 
John  xii.  27,  joy.  Elation  of  soul  is  followed  by  troubling 
of  soul,  that  again  by  the  rest  of  a  holy  self- 
recollection.  At  the  supper  table,  and  after- 
wards, until  the  agony  of  Gethsemane  swept 
over  the  heart,  there  is  perfect  calm,  wondrous 
elevation  of  thought.  A  brother's  tenderness 
blends  with  a  Redeemer's  gladness.  He  has 
triumphed.  The  Prince  of  this  world  would 
come  again  in  the  garden,  but  only  to  find 
nothing  in  Him.  The  subtlest  conflict  with 
hell  had  been  connected  with  the  one  who  had 
gone  out.  In  him,  the  spirit  wholly  opposite 
to  Christ's  had  been  gathered   up.      He   had 


THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF.  69 

endured  this  contradiction  of  sinners.  He  had 
been  faithful  to  the  mission  of  Eternal  Love. 
The  truth  of  the  Son  of  Man  had  been  fully 
vindicated.  Now,  now,  the  glory  is  ensphering 
Him. 

It  is  the  glory  of  sacrifice — sacrifice  in  the 
form  of  a  perfect  separation  to  God,  The  world 
has  gone  out ;  He  is  now  alone  with  His  be- 
loved and  with  the  Father.  As  we  have  seen, 
His  last  words  to  the  unbelieving  world  have 
been  spoken;  as  that  world-spirit  was  per- ^^'^'i' chap. ;. 
sonated  in  Judas,  it  has  been  permitted  to  fill 
up  the  measure  of  its  guilt.  He  is  the  Lamb  of 
God  who  openeth  not  His  mouth.  He  is  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel.  For  the  sake  of  those 
around  Him,  and  of  all  who  shall  believe  on 
Him  through  their  word,  He  is  the  altogether 
sanctified,  the  very  Truth  and  Love  of  God. 
The  glory  of  the  sacrifice  is  this  : 
In  the  first  place,  Love  enters  itself  into  the 
position,  becomes  identified,  even  to  the  uttermost, 
with  the  need  of  those  for  whom  it  has  given 
itself.  Christ,  who  had  been  joined  to  us  in 
flesh  and  blood,  who  had  been  "  tempted  in  all 
points  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin,"  is  now  Heb.  iv.  15. 
serving  Himself  (so  to  speak)  before  God  instead 
of  us,  one  with  us  tJiere  where  only  He  could 
reach  and  find  us.  The  last  and  crowning  act 
of  sacrifice  is  begun — the  act  which  is  peculiar 
to  the  cross.     For  the  cross  is  not  merely  the 


70  THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF. 

climax  of  the  obedience ;  it  is  the  "  satisfaction 
and  oblation  for  the  sin  of  the  world."  On  it, 
the  Son  of  Man  was  "made  sin  for  us";  on  His 
pure  and  unspotted  heart  He  bore  our  exceed- 
ing misery.  The  taking  of  the  whole  burden  of 
"  that  which  was  lost,"  loving  to  the  last  possibi- 
lity of  loving — that  was  the  sacrifice.  And  surely 
we  shall  add,  that  was  the  joy.  For  love  is  never 
so  joyful  as  when  the  soul  loses  the  sense  of  dis- 
tinctness from,  becomes  perfectly  one  with,  the 
loved.  For  self  to  die  into  another  and  re-exist  no 
longer  apart  from,  but  in  and  of  the  other,  is  the 
sovereign  blessedness  of  love.  It  is  restless  until 
it  realises  this ;  it  is  glad  in  the  measure  in  which  it 
does  realise  this.  And  what  a  river-fulness  is  to 
the  ocean-fulness,  that,  as  I  take  it,  this  gladness 
even  at  its  purest  is  to  that  which  filled  the  heart 
of  Jesus  when  the  hour  of  love's  supreme  long- 
ing came.  "  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified." 
But  "  there  is  a  glory  which  excelleth : " 
T/ie  love  of  the  Son  perfectly  responding  to  the 
will  of  the  Father.  So  it  had  been  through 
every  hour  and  act  of  ministry.  The  meat  of 
the  Son  of  Man  had  been  to  do  the  will  of 
the  Father  in  heaven.  He  had  lived  by  the 
Father  :  every  word  corresponding  to  a  voice 
which  He  had  heard,  every  motion  correspond- 
ing to  a  glance  which  He  had  seen.  Now,  the 
full  proof  of  the  Son's  Amen  is  to  be  given. 
Hitherto,  he  has  do7ie  the  will,  now  He  is  to  bear. 


THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF.  7  I 

Hitherto,   it    has   been   the  action,    now   it    is 
the  passion.       Hitherto,    He    had    drunk    the 
cup    of    service,    with    the    assured    sense    of 
complacent  favour,  "  My  beloved  Son  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased  ; "  now  He  must  drink  the 
cup   of  woful   suffering,  with   the   sense   of  a 
face  withdrawn,   the   supporting    Father's  love 
hidden  as   behind   a   murky  cloud.     Hitherto, 
there    had   been    approbation   lighting   up   the 
heart,  no  matter  what  the  opposition  of  men  : 
now,   there    is  condemnation,  the  righteousness 
that  is  against  sin  exhausting  itself  on  the  One 
made  sin.     What  a  word  is  that,  my  readers  .-• 
'^  Made  sin  for  2is"     Oh,  let  us  remember  thataCor. 
it  is  all  of  God.  It  is  notxho.  Son  coming  between 
us  and  the  Father,  interposing  to  save  us  from 
the  Father.     Nay,  it  is  the  Father  dealing  with 
us  through  the  Son.     The  Father  wills,  the  Son 
accepts.     The  Father  makes,  the  Son  is  made. 
The  Father  will  not  spare,  the  Son  will  not  be 
spared.     Behold   the  glory  of  the  sacrifice : — 
Absolute  oneness,  will  in  man  with  will  in  God. 
And   herein  we  trace  the  greatness   of  the 
triumph  manifest  in  the  word  of  Jesus.     As  we 
see  Him  with  the  shadows  of  Gethsemane  and 
Calvary  close  to  His  vision,  His  soul  is  rising 
in  sweetest  sympathy  with  the  purpose  and  will 
of  the  Father.     He  is  the  sent  of  God.      He 
has  no  will  but  God's.      He  sees  right  up  into 
the  thought'of  the  Eternal  Love.    The  hour  is  to 


72  THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF. 

be  to  him  one  of  darkness  and  agony  which  it  is 
impossible  for  language  to  represent.  Hard  is  the 
pleading  of  the  flesh  to  be  saved  from  it.  But 
the  spirit  has  conquered.  And  for  the  joy  that 
is  set  before  Him  ; — in  the  conscious  fellowship 
of  His  Father's  love,  and  of  the  new  way  to  be 
opened  for  men  through  His  broken  body  and 
shed  blood  ; — for  that  joy,  all  which  must  come 
between  Him  and  its  consummation  is  over- 
looked ;  there  is  present  only  the  Father's  sweet 
and  holy  will,  that  shall  see  its  travail,  that  shall 
find  its  satisfaction,  in  a  world  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  His  love.  "  Now  is  the  Son 
of  Man  glorified,  and  God  is  glorified  in  Him." 

Thus  far,  Jesus  speaks  to  the  eleven  of  a  glory 
which  is,  or,  as  the  verb  might  rather  be  ren- 
dered, was,  for  it  is  as  certain  as  if  it  were  con- 
cluded. But  in  the  latter  part  of  His  word  of 
relief,  He  speaks  of  a  glorifying  to  be  after  and 
through  the  former  glorifying  of  the  Son  of 
Man.  There  is  the  more  general  affirmation, 
God  sJiall  glorify  the  Son  of  Man  in  Himself, 
and  there  is  the  more  definite  "  He  shall straigJit- 
Ver.  3?.        %v ay  glorify  Him.'' 

Let  us  keep  in  view  that  the  subject  of  the 
sentences  is  the  Son  of  Man.  The  scope  of  the 
saying  we  will  observe  to  be  that  the  Son  of 
Man  in  whom  God  is  glorified  shall  be  glorified 
in  God.     Naturally  we  connect  this  word  with 


THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF.  73 

the  prayer  of  the  seventeenth  chapter,  "  I  glori- 
fied Thee  on  the  earth  :  I  finished  the  work 
which  Thou  gavest  me  to  do.  And  now, 
O  Father,  glorify  Thou  me  with  Thine  own 
self  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  Thee 
before  the  world  was."  If  I  were  to  distinguish  cr  xvii.  5. 
between  the  word  before  us  and  that  prayer,  I 
would  say  that  the  So?i  of  Man  is  more  specially 
presented  in  the  word  before  us.  In  the  prayer, 
it  is  the  Son  who  came  out  from  the  Father, 
who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  that  cries, 
"  Let  me  back  to  the  glory  which  I  had  with 
Thee  in  the  praises  of  eternity."  But,  conjoining 
the  two  testimonies,  the  thought  suggested  is 
this :  There  was  the  anointing  of  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  Man  at  His  birth;  there  was  the  anoint- 
ing of  the  Son  of  Man  as  the  Messiah  at  His 
baptism ;  there  was  the  anointing  of  the  Mes- 
siah as  the  Son  of  God  with  power — the  ad- 
ministrator of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sits  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  all  power 
given  to  Him  in  heaven  and  on  earth — in  the 
Resurrection  and  Ascension.  He  is  ivhere  He 
was  before ;  but  He  is  there  with  an  addition. 
He  is  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son  of  Man.  The  humanity  which  was  taken 
into  the  Godhead  in  the  Incarnation,  God,  in 
the  raising  up  of  Jesus,  has  taken  for  ever  into 
the  Godhead :  He  has  glorified  it  in  Himself 
That  is  set  forth  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 


74  THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF. 

as  the  ground  and  reason  of  Christ's  priesthood. 
His  glorified  humanity  is  the  way  of  all  blessing. 
In  it  heaven  and  earth  are  made  so  nigh  that 
we,  living  by  Him,  are  truly  sitting  in  the 
heavenly  places.  The  first  sign  of  the  glori- 
fying in  God  Himself  is  the  word  of  the  risen 
Saviour,    "  My   Father   and    your    Father,    my 

Cap.  XX.  17.  God  and  your  God." 

"  Straightway,^'  Jesus  adds,  shall  God  thus 
glorify  the  Son  of  Man.  The  word  has  a  loving 
glance  to  the  "  little  children "  around  Him. 
His  time  with  them  in  the  old  relation  is  nearly 
concluded.  They  may  be  certain  that  although 
they  cannot  follow  Him  through  the  sufferings 
into  the  glory,  that  although  His  path  must 
be  a  lonely  one,  the  sun  which  seems  to  set 
shall  rise  immediately.  The  lifting  up  from 
the  earth  by  the  Cross  shall  begin  the  real  and 
everlasting  glory  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  God. 
There  and  then  "  the  Ecce  Homo  is  changed  to 

stier,  vol.  6.  the  cye  of  faith  into  Behold  thy  God.'' 


154- 


Here,  it  may  be,  the  discourse  of  Jesus  is,  for 
a  little  while,  suspended.  It  is  difificult  to  find 
such  a  break  in  the  narrative  of  St  John  as  will 
admit  the  institution  of  the  Eucharistic  rite. 
Objections  may  be  taken  to  any  break  suggested. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  an  intrinsic 
justification  of  the  pause  which  I  have  marked. 
That  the  word   recorded  in  the  31st  and  3  2d 


THE  WORD  OF  RELIEF.  75 

verses  should  instantly  follow  the  departure  of 
Judas  is   highly   probable.      We   can   scarcely 
conceive  that  it  was  preceded  by  any  act.     All 
eyes  were  turned   to   the  centre  of  the    circle 
which   had   been    broken  ;  and   it  was  natural 
that  the  relief  of   the    Christ-heart    should    at 
once  find  utterance.     But  the  word  recorded  is 
a  most  fit  and  appropriate  introduction  to  the 
rite  which  derives  its  fullest  meaning  from  the 
glorifying  of  the  humanity  of  the  Lord,  which 
invites  us  to  feed  on  the  flesh  which  is  meat 
indeed   and  the  blood  which  is  drink  indeed. 
Therefore,  without  presuming  to  do  more  than 
indicate  a  possible  sequence,  we  may  suppose 
that  after  the  solemn,  triumphant  look  upward 
and    forward,     Jesus    was     silent  for    a    time, 
longer  or  shorter.     None  would  venture  to  ask 
Him  anything.     Lo !    as  the    supper  proceeds 
— having  approached  the  stage  at  which   the 
father  of  the  family  was  wont,  with  both  hands, 
to  break  the  cake  and  pass  it  around  as  "  the 
bread  of  affliction  " — the  Father  of  the  family 
represented  in  the  guest-chamber  takes  bread 
and   blesses  and  breaks  it  and  gives  it  to  His 
own,  but — not  as  the  bread  of  affliction — as  the 
token  and  memorial  of  Himself  which  the  ages 
to  come  should  hallow   as  pre-eminently    the 
showing  of  the  Lord's  death  until  He  come. 


VII. 

THE   BREAD   AND   THE   CUP. 

St  Matt.  xxvi.  26-30 ;  St  Mark.  xiv.  22-26 ;  St  Luke  xxii. 
19,  20;  St  John  xiii.  33,  34;  i  Cor.  xi.  23-26. 

Like  the  kingdom  of  which  it  is  the  symbol, 
the  ordinance  which  we  call  the  Lord's  Supper 
did  not  come  with  observation.  Nothing  can 
be  more  quiet  and  simple  than  the  account  of 
its  institution.  It  is  difficult  to  realise  that, 
in  the  few  short  sentences  which  record  the 
consecration  of  the  bread  and  the  cup,  the 
Evangelists  relate  the  appointment  of  the  m.ost 
solemn  and  distinctive  of  the  ordinances  of  the 
Christian  Church.  All  the  more  congruous  on 
this  account  are  the  sacred  narratives  to  the 
character  of  that  ordinance.  Its  impressiveness 
is  not  derived  from  what  is  external.  There  is 
no  "pomp,  pride,  or  circumstance"  connected 
with  it.  Its  influence  is  dependent  on  the 
spiritual  light  which  pervades  it,  on  the  pur- 
pose to  which  it  is  consecrated,  on  the  blessing 
of  the  Lord  which  is  for  ever  associated  with  it. 
As  it  has  previously  been  remarked,  the  exact 
period  in  the  history  of  the  evening  at  which 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  77 

the  institution  of  the  rite  occurred  cannot  be 
determined.  The  weight  of  probabilities  seems 
to  me  in  favour  of  the  time  which  we  have 
supposed — after  the  departure  of  the  traitor,  and 
the  utterance  of  the  words  occasioned  by  his 
departure.  But  the  Synoptists  are  content  with 
the  general  statement,  "  As  they  were  eating  ;  "  Matt.  xxvi. 
"As  they  did  eat."  St  Luke  merely  says,  "  He  Markxiv.za 
took  bread."  Luke  xxii. 

There  are  variations  in  the  terms  which  our  '^' 
Lord  is  represented  as  employing.    One  version 
is,  "  My  body  given,"  the  others  merely,  "  My 
body."     One  is  more  full  in  the  report  as  to  the 
cup,  beginning  with  the  command,  "  Drink  ye 
all  of  it ;'^  and  adding,  "For  this  is  My  blood 
of  the  neiu  testament,  ivJiich  is  shed  for  majiy 
for  the  remission  of  sins."     Another  only  men-  Matt.  xxvi. 
tions  the  giving  of  the  cup  and  the  drinking  of "''  ^^' 
it  by  all,  and  presents  the  shorter  formula,  "  For 
this  is  My  blood  of  the  new  testament,  ivJiich  is 
shed  for  manyT     The  third  omits  the  reference  Mark  xiv 
to  the  drinking  of  the  cup,  and  has,  "  TJiis  cup  ^^'  ^''' 
is  the  nezv  testament  in  My  blood,  zuhich  is  shed 
for  youy      Thus  we  are  reminded,  as  we  are  Luke  xxii. 
often  reminded,  that  a  mere  verbal  accuracy  in  '^°' 
reproducing  the  things  which  Christ  said  is  not 
of  the  essence  of  Divine  inspiration.    Whatsoever 
is  necessary  to  a  true  apprehension  of  the  eter- 
nal verities,  or  to  a  right  reception  and  observ- 
ance of  His  commandments,  is  set  before  us ; 


78  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

but  a  rigid  literalism  is  not  in  the  plan  of  the 
illuminating  Spirit  of  Truth.  Small  deviations 
in  the  repetition  of  the  sacred  formula  probably 
crept  into  the  use  of  the  Churches,  and  such 
deviations  the  compilers  of  the  Gospels  were 
permitted  to  present.  It  is  only  the  worshipper 
of  the  letter  who  is  puzzled  over  them,  or  who 
feels  that  they  detract  in  any  degree  from  the 
perfect  truthfulness  and  trustworthiness  of  the 
histories. 

But  all  the  narratives  are  careful  to  note  the 
several  parts  of  the  action  of  Jesus,  as  if  each 
of  these  parts  was  essential  to  the  action.  They 
all  report  that  He  took  the  bread;  that  He 
blessed  it,  or  gave  thanks  ;  that  He  broke  the 
bread  which  He  had  blessed  ;  that  He  gave  the 
bread  thus  blessed  and  broken  to  His  disciples. 
They  are  unanimous,  too,  in  describing  Him 
as  saying  over  the  bread,  "  This  is  My  body.'" 
Reverting  to  the  account  of  the  Passover  cere- 
monial, we  may  assume  that  what  the  Lord 
then  consecrated  was  one  of  the  cakes  of  un- 
leavened bread  which  were  used  at  the  feast. 
It  was  customary  for  the  master,  at  a  particular 
stage,  to  break  two  cakes  with  both  hands  and 
render  thanks  in  the  sentence,  "Blessed  be  Thou, 
O  Lord  our  God,  the  King  of  the  universe.  Who 
bringest  forth  food  out  of  the  earth;"  and,  having 
so  done,  to  distribute  pieces  of  the  cake  to  all 
around,  saying,  "  This  is  the^bread  of  affliction 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  79 

which  our  father's  did  eat  in  the  land  of  Egypt." 

Jesus,  we  may  assume,  observed   this  custom, 

but  changed  the  word  from  "  This  is  the  bread 

of  affliction,"  to  "  This  is  My  body."    At  a  later 

period, — "  after    supper," — probably    when    the  Luke  xxH. 

third  cup,  the  cup  of  Benediction,  was  passed, 

there  followed  the  setting  apart  of  the  sign  of 

the  new  testament   in   the    Redeemer's  blood. 

Pious  Israelites  were  wont,  in  connection  with 

this  cup,  to  speak  of  the  law  given  by  Moses 

and    the    Covenant   made   with   their   Fathers. 

The  Lord  renews  the  face  of  this  memorial  by 

testifying  "  This   cup " — the   one  which    I    am 

holding,   which    I    give   to   you — "is    the    nciv 

testament."     After  having  thus  spoken,  whilst 

the  disciples  are  drinking,   He  refers  a  second 

time  that  evening  to  "the  fruit  of  the  vine." 

"  /  will  7iot  drink  of  it  henceforth,  until  that  day 

luhen  I  drink  it  nezv  with  you  in  My  Father  s  Matt.  xwi. 

kingdom!''      Possibly  the  word    quoted   by  St  Markxiv.25. 

John  about  His  speedy  departure,  whither  His 

"  little  children  "  could  not  come,  was  associated 

with    this   reference.     Probably,    too,    the    new  John  xiii.  3,, 

commandment  was  uttered  in  that  moment  of  ^^ 

high  spiritual  communion. 

There  is  another  account  of  the  institution  of 
the  Eucharist,  which  is  in  many  ways  significant.  ,  cor.  xi.  23- 
The   first   letter   of    St    Paul's    Epistle   to   the '^• 
Corinthians  was  written  either  shortly  after  or 
shortly  before  the  first  of  the  Gospels,  that  of  St 


So  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

Matthew.  Its  date,  we  may  assume,  was  about 
A.D.  57.  It  contains  a  distinct  and  full  record 
of  the  memorable  transaction  on  the  night  in 
which  the  Saviour  was  betrayed.  Its  *'  almost 
exact  coincidence  with  the  account  in  St  Luke 
is  important,  as  confirming  the  tradition  of  the 
author  of  that  Gospel  being  the  same  as  the 
Stanley  on    companion  of  St  Paul."     What  is  most  striking 

Corinthians,    ....  1-111  ^^  x   1 

vol.  1. 241.  IS,  that  it  IS  prefaced  by  the  sentence,  I  have 
received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered 
unto  you."  The  sentence  undoubtedly  suggests 
that  he  had  obtained  the  information  which 
now  he  communicates,  not  at  second-hand, 
through  one  of  the  eleven  or  by  some  other 
channel,  but  at  first-hand,  from  the  Lord  Him- 
self The  fact  he  may  have  known,  but  even 
those  who  are  unwilling  to  admit  the  idea  of  a 
special  conference  with  Christ  allow  that  the 
phrase,  "  from  the  Lord,"  may  perhaps  mean 
Stanley  on  "that  hc  had  confirmed  to  him  by  immediate 
vor'i' 24^""'  revelation  what  he  already  knew  as  a  fact";  and 
if  so,  we  have,  in  the  paragraph  of  the  epistle, 
an  authoritative  declaration  of  the  risen  Lord 
Himself,  as  to  His  intention  to  appoint  an  ordin- 
ance of  binding  force  in  His  church  until  He 
come ;  and  an  authoritative  explanation  by 
Himself  of  the  nature,  purpose,  and  meaning  of 
the  ordinance. 

Three  questions  present  themselves.      PV/m^ 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  Ol 

is  the  relation  of  this  ordinance  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment festival  f  What  is  its  office  tvith  regard  to 
the  person  and  work  of  onr  Lord?  What  is  its 
place  in  the  spiritual  life  and  discipline  of  the 
Chris tiafi  Clmrch  ? 

That  the  Lord's  Supper  has  some  relation  to 
the  Passover  will  be  at  once  conceded.  "Chris- 
tianity," it  has  well  been  remarked,  "  can  never 
separate  itself  from  its  historic  basis  in  the  reli- 
gion of  Israel ;  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ 
cannot  be  divorced  from  the  earlier  revelation 
on  which  our  Lord  built.  In  all  true  religion,  Robertson 
the  new  rests  upon  the  old.        It  we  suppose  Testament 

1   •    1      /-^^      •  1  "11        '"  Jewish 

that  the  hour  m  which  Christ  sat  down  with  the  church, 
twelve,  and  the  act  by  which  He  hallowed  the 
bread  and  the  cup,  mark  the  transition  moment 
between  the  old  and  the  new,  we  are  bound  to 
conclude  that  in  the  old  there  is  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  new,  and  all  that  is  spiritual  or 
essential  in  the  old  melts  into,  and  re-exists  in, 
the  new. 

Indeed,  it  may  with  justice  be  affirmed  that 
the  Christian  supper  is  the  Israelite  supper  con- 
densed, but  with  a  new  meaning  and  applica- 
tion. Is  not  this  entirely  in  consonance  with 
Divine  thoughts  and  ways  }  In  the  establish- 
ment of  covenant-signs,  God  appropriates  what 
already  is,  only  attaching  to  it  a  special  signifi- 
cance and  value.  The  rainbow,  as  a  physical 
F 


82  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

phenomenon,  existed  before  the  flood;  after  the 
flood  it  was  made  the  sign  of  the  covenant 
established  with  Noah,  The  rite  of  circumci- 
sion was  probably  in  use  among  the  Egyptians 
before  the  day  of  Abraham  ;  it  was  sanctified 
as  the  token  of  the  covenant  with  Abraham  and 
his  seed.  Baptism  was  a  custom  recognised  in 
Judaea  ;  not  only  were  there  the  washings  pre- 
scribed by  the  law,  but  there  was  the  immersion 
of  proselytes  as  the  symbol  of  their  separation 
to  a  teacher  or  doctrine.  Christ  only  altered 
the  purport  of  such  washings  when  He  com- 
manded His  Apostles  to  baptize  "  into  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 

Matt,  xxviii.  Ghost."  In  harmony,  therefore,  with  divinely 
sanctioned  modes,  we  may  conceive  that  the 
Holy  Eucharist  is  an  adaptation  of  the  great 
Jewish  festival,  by  which,  whilst  the  catholic 
truth  of  the  festival  is  preserved,  there  is  at 
the  same  time  thrown  around  it  a  higher  grace 
and  glory.  The  ceremonial  must,  in  many 
parts,  be  altered.  There  is  no  need  now  of  the 
Paschal  Lamb,  slain  "  between  evenings "  and 

1  Cor.  V.  7.  eaten  wholly,  because  Christ  the  Passover,  the 
very  Lamb  of  God,  has  been  sacrificed  for  us  ; 
and   "  by  one  offering   He  hath  perfected   for 

Hebrews  X.  cvcr  them  that  are  sanctified."  All  that 
appealed  only  to  the  national  feeling  of  Israel 
may  now  be  omitted.  The  petty  details  of  the 
feast  can  no   longer   interest  those  who  have 


14 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  S^ 

been  made  free  from  the  law.  Thanksgivings 
have  been  lifted  to  a  higher  plane  ;  for  now  we 
celebrate  the  deliverance  from  the  curse  and 
bondage  of  sin  ;  we  give  thanks  for  an  Eternal 
Redemption,  in  which  the  whole  human  family 
is  interested,  through  which  enmities  between 
man  and  man  have  been  slain,  and  Jew  and  Ephes.  ii.  i6. 
Gentile  "rejoice  in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  whom  they  have  received  the  recon- 
ciliation." Thus,  in  the  Christian  ordinance,  the  Romans  v. 
levels  of  thought  peculiar  to  the  Passover  have 
been  elevated,  whilst  all  that  transcended  the 
limits  of  Jewish  history,  that  witnessed  for  the 
universally  good  and  true,  has  been  as  it  were 
epitomised.  At  the  Table  of  the  Lord,  the 
whole  Israel  of  God  is  represented  :  the  two 
Testaments  are  united  in  Him  who  is  manifested 
as  the  Bread  of  Life ;  we  can  look  upwards  and 
say — 

"  Now  of  Thy  love  we  deem 
As  of  an  ocean  vast, 
Mounting  in  tides  against  the  stream 
Of  ages  gone  and  past. 

"  Both  theirs  and  ours  Thou  art, 
As  we  and  they  are  Thine  ; 
Kings,  Prophets,  Patriarchs — all  have  part 
Along  the  sacred  line." 

But,  in  respect  of  the  Eucharist,  we  must 
keep  in  view  another  principle  on  which   our 


84  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

estimate  of  the  relation  of  the  Old  Testament 
to  the  New  should  proceed.  We  are  in  the  habit 
of  saying  that  the  one  presents  the  type,  the 
other  the  antitype.  Be  it  so.  But  the  nature 
of  the  antitype  is  declared,  not  so  much  by  the 
points  of  resemblance  between  it  and  the  type, 
as  by  the  points  of  difference.  The  law  is  only 
the  shadoiv,  it  is  not  the  image  of  the  good 
things  to  come  :  we  can  trace  an  outline,  but 
we  cannot  discern  the  reality.  It  is  through 
the  contrasts  between  the  Law  and  the  Gospel : 
by  indicating  wherein  the  verities  of  the  gospel 
excel  the  ordinances  of  the  law,  —  have  the 
efficacy  which  is  wanting  in  the  rites  of 
"  the  worldly  sanctuary,"  —  that  the  writer 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  sets  forth  "  the 
Hebrews  w.  great  salvation,"  the  "  more  perfect  tabernacle  " 
Hebrews  X.  of  whlch  ChHst  is  High  Priest  for  ever.  Let 
us  not  then  regard  the  Lord's  Supper  as  only  the 
Passover  revived  in  another  form.  As  the  husk 
protects  the  seed  until  it  is  sufficiently  matured 
to  burst  into  fulness  of  life,  so  the  economy  of 
the  law  protected  the  truth  of  spiritual  services 
"  until  the  time  of  Reformation."  There  was  a 
reformation  of  all  things  in  Christ.  His  feast  is 
a  new  thing.  It  is  observable  how  careful  St  Paul 
is  to  disengage  it  from  its  first  Jewish  setting. 
There  is  no  reference  whatever  in  his  narrative 
to  the  Paschal  supper.  He  does  not  speak  of 
the  night  on  which  this  Supper  was  held  ;  he 


Hebrews 
ix.  10. 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  85 

speaks  "  of  the  night  in  which  the  Lord  was 
betrayed."  His  thought  is  occupied  only 
with  Christ,  with  the  preaching  of  His  death  in 
sacramental  act,  with  the  communion  in  His 
body  and  blood.  The  commentary  on  the 
Supper  is  not  the  Passover  ceremonial,  or  the 
history  which  that  ceremonial  depicted;  it  is — as 
the  Apostle's  language  implies — the  discourse  of 
Christ  concerning  Himself  as  the  Bread  of  Life.  John  vi.  32- 

The  first  Christians  understood  this.     They  ^ ' 
did  not  at  once  break  from  the  worship  of  the 
Temple  ;  they  were  "  continually  in  the  temple, 
praising   and    blessing   God."      But    they   had  Lukexxiv. 
their  own  distinctive  worship  too.    The  believers  ^^' 
assembled  together  to  offer  their  homage  to  the 
Risen  Saviour,  and  provoke  to  love  and  good 
works,   and    in  their  assemblies,   the  crowning 
bond  at  once  of  their  fellowship  with  the  Lord 
and  with  one  another  was  the  breaking  of  bread.  Acts  ni  ,2. 
That  was,  at  an  early  period,  at  least  in  some 
Gentile  churches,  associated  with  the  love-feast 
— a  proof  that  the  Christian  instinct  beheld  in 
the  Supper  of  Jesus  an  institution  more  flexible, 
more  clothed  with  sweet  and  gentle  humanities, 
than  the  somewhat  stately  and  formal  celebra- 
tion of  Israel's  Passover. 

Thus,  then,  the  Lord's  Supper,  conserving  all 
that  was  true  in  the  Old  Testament  ordinance, 
occupies  a  place  of  its  own  as  the  symbol  of  the 


86  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

new  covenant.  The  inquiry  next  suggested  is, 
What  is  its  office  with  regard  to  the  person  and 
work  of  the  Lord? 

The  intimacy  of  its  relation  to  Him  is  asserted 
in  His  own  words  and  enforced  by  His  own 
action.  He  pointed  to  Himself  when  He  in- 
stituted the  rite  ;  He  associated  the  bread  with 
His  body,  and  the  cup  with  the  Testament  in 
His  blood ;  He  consecrated  the  eating  and 
drinking  by  the  reference,  "  in  remembrance  of 
Me."  What  He  was  to  them  ;  what  He  is  for 
them  ;  what  He  would  be  in  them — it  is  with 
this  that  He  immediately  connects  the  thought 
of  His  own.  Christendom,  in  every  age,  has 
kept  the  charge  of  her  Lord,  and  has  designated 
the  simple  meal  which  can  be  traced  to  the 
night  of  the  betrayal  as  emphatically  His 
Supper.  Controversy  enters  only  when  the 
effort  is  made  to  interpret  the  sacred  formula, 
or  to  define  the  mode  of  the  identification  of 
the  elements  with  the  facts  to  which  they  corre- 
spond— the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 

To  exhibit  and  discuss  theories  on  a  subject 
so  abstruse  is  foreign  to  my  purpose.  My  readers 
will  share  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Canon 
Farrar,  when  he  says : — "  The  transubstantiation 
and  sacramental  controversies  which  have  raged 
for  centuries  around  the  feast  of  communion 
and  Christian  love  are  as  heart-saddening  as 
they  are  strange  and  needless.     They  would 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  87 

never  have  arisen  if  it  had  been  sufficiently 
observed  that  it  was  a  characteristic  of  Christ's 
teaching  to  adopt  the  language  of  picture  and 
emotion.  But  to  turn  metaphor  into  fact, 
poetry  into  prose,  rhetoric  into  logic,  parable 
into  systematic  theology,  is  at  once  fatal  and 
absurd.  It  is  to  warn  us  against  such  error 
that  Jesus  said  so  emphatically,  //  is  the  Spirit 
that  qiiickeneth,  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing;  the 
zvords  that  I  speak  unto  you  they  are  Spirit  and 
they  are  life!'  <•  Life  of 

Yet,  it  is  necessary  to  guard  this  statement.  H.'^pl'^g^-''"'' 
The  "language  of  picture  and  emotion"  is  not 
to  be  opposed  to  the  language  in  which  definite 
meanings  are  attached  to  phrases.  It  is  not  to 
be  regarded  as  inexact,  wholly  figurative,  speech. 
When  Christ  says,  "This  is  My  body,"  we  are 
not  to  exclaim,  "Oh,  that  is  mere  poetry,  a 
mere  pictorial  setting  of  the  thought  that,  in 
some  way,  the  bread  reminds  us  of  Him."  We 
must  maintain  that  there  is  a  special  office 
between  the  bread  and  the  very  body  of  the 
Lord.  Our  contention  is  only  that  the  truth 
of  the  words  which  Christ  has  spoken  is  not  to 
be  sought  in  what  appears  to  the  mind  of  the 
flesh,  not  in  the  mere  letter,  but  in  the  spiritual 
sense  which  the  spiritual  mind  discerns.  En- 
deavouring thus  to  apprehend  them,  let  us  trace 
a  more  general  and  a  more  special  ministry  in  the 
Holy  Eucharist.     It  is  a  meinorial  of  Christ ;  it 


88  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

is  a  means  of  communicating  Himself  as  the  bread 
of  the  eternal  life  to  as  mafiy  as  receive  Him. 
Lukexxii.  "/«  or  into  the  remembrance  of  Me" — this  is 
I  Cor.  xi.  24.  the  clause  which  we  find  in  the  accounts  of  St 
Luke  and  St  Paul;  and  even  supposing  that 
the  clause  had  been  omitted,  the  action  observed 
in  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  would 
have  explained  its  purport.  Every  part  of  it  is 
"in  remembrance"  of  the  successive  stages  in 
the  "  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God." 
The  taking  of  the  bread  suggests  the  incarnation; 
the  breaking  suggests  the  life  of  humiliation  and 
the  death  of  sacrifice  ;  the  free  gift  of  the  virtue 
of  the  death  and  the  salvation  by  the  life  is 
declared  in  the  giving  of  the  bread  ;  the  filling 
and  drinking  of  the  cup  are  significant  of  the 
pouring  out  of  the  blood  for  the  remission  of 
sins.  But,  in  the  express  appeal  which  He 
makes  to  the  loyalty  and  gratitude  of  the  heart, 
Christ  has  manifested  Himself  as  the  Man  who 
"  knew  what  was  in  man." 

It  is  part  of  what  we  may  call  the  unselfish 
selfishness  of  love  to  desire  acknowledgment. 
It  waits  for  a  response  in  order  that,  through 
this  response,  it  may  be  the  more  fully  asso- 
ciated with  the  beloved.  Its  gratification  is  not 
only  in  what  it  receives,  but  in  the  opportunity 
which  it  has,  through  the  answering  love,  of 
passing  into  the  innermost  place  of  the  soul. 
One  of  those  indications  whose  aggregate  is  an 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  89 

evidence  of  immortality  is  the  wish  to  be  re- 
membered, as  proved  by  putting  some  token 
into  the  hand  of  the  one  to  be  left  behind  as  a 
special  keep-sake.  It  is  not  from  the  fear  of 
being  forgotten  that  parent  or  friend  does  this  ; 
he  does  it  in  the  conviction  that  he  will  not  be 
forgotten  ;  the  craving  is  that  the  keep-sake 
shall  serve  as  a  special  point  of  conjunction 
between  the  one  that  is  taken  and  the  one  that 
is  left — tJiat,  in  which  the  testimony  is  borne, 
"  love's  too  precious  to  be  lost."  And  we  are 
all  aware  of  the  influence  exercised  by  even 
little  things  which  are,  in  some  way,  particularly 
related  to  the  dead.  The  toy  which  is  kept  in 
"the  place  apart,"  telling  of  the  little  hand  that 
has  vanished  ;  the  seal  or  ring  or  trifle  which 
reminds  of  the  dying  bed  whence  it  was  given 
us ;  anything  which  is  separated  from  all  other 
objects  by  its  association  with  the  departed, 
which  is  wholly  sacred  to  him,  is  invested 
with  a  power  of  quickening  and  intensifying 
recollection,  of  gathering  up  the  effect  of  the 
presence  and  transforming  it  into  "a  shaping 
spirit  of  imagination."  The  remembrance  is 
not  exhausted  by  the  special  moment  or  act ; 
the  special  moment  or  act  communicates  an 
impulse  which  is  felt  through  the  life. 

So  with  Christ's  Holy  Supper.  I  am  sure 
that  the  appointment  of  it  comes  straight  from 
the  humanity  in   Him.     It    is  a  most  tender. 


QO  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

gentle,  irresistibly  human  commandment.  To 
refuse  to  keep  it  seems  to  me  equivalent  to  the 
refusal  to  acknowledge  Him  in  the  definite  way 
which  He  has  marked  out.  It  is  to  refuse  Him 
the  gratification  of  love.  I  never  see  the  multi- 
tudes passing  into  the  houses  of  prayer  in  this 
city  on  a  communion  Sunday — all  bent  on  one 
service,  and  that  a  service  of  simple  loyalty  to 
Christ,  a  confession  of  Him  and  fellowship  with 
Him — without  feeling  that  to  the  human  heart 
of  the  Lord  this  must  be  a  pleasing  and  joyous 
spectacle.  The  welling  up  of  so  many  fountains 
which  His  love  has  unsealed  ;  the  lifting  of  so 
many  eyes  to  Him ;  persons  of  all  temperaments, 
diversities  of  condition,  learned  and  unlearned, 
high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  all  finding  in  Him 
a  common  centre,  an  everlasting  bond  of  unity ; 
the  glorifying  of  Him  in  His  death  and  resurrec- 
tion— surely  herein  He  sees  the  travail  of  His 
soul.  Not  merely  to  be  loved  must  He  desire 
this,  but  in  order  that  His  love  may  blend  itself 
with  all  the  life  of  His  own — that  being  thus 
received  into  the  experience  of  men  He  may 
sup  with  them  and  they  with  Him, 

And  we  who  do  this  hi  remembrance  are  thereby 
strengthened  in  the  remembrance  of  Him  con- 
tinually. Let  us  not  suppose  that  Jesus  insti- 
tuted the  rite  lest  He  should  not  be  remembered. 
He  pre-supposes  in  the  appointment  the  love  of 
those  whom    He  addresses.     Because  they  are 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  9 1 

His,  He  bids  them  in  solemn  service  remind 
themselves  of  all  that  He  is  to  them  as  Lord 
and  Saviour,  and  all  that  they  are  bound  to  be 
to  Him  as  His  loving  people,  redeemed  with 
His  blood.  The  Eucharist  is  not  tlie  remem- 
brance ;  it  is  a  memorial  into  the  remembrance. 
It  is  an  ordinance,  the  purpose  of  which  is  that 
from  it  there  shall  proceed  the  law  of  the  devo- 
tion which  is  to  inspire  all  the  life.  "  In  this 
ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  it  were,  is 
the  reservoir ;  out  of  it  there  come  the  streams 
that  freshen  and  gladden  the  piety  of  daily  life. 
Only  remember,  not  the  outward  act,  but  the 
emotions  which  it  kindles,  are  the  reservoir. 
Not  sitting  down  there  and  taking  the  cup  in 
your  hand,  but  the  deeper  glow  of  feeling  which 
is  legitimately  kindled  therein,  and  the  intenser 
faith  which  springs  therefrom — these  are  the 
fountains  which  will  nourish  verdure  and  life 
through  the  dusty  days."  "Madaren's 

But  it  must  be  remarked  that  the  remembrance  s^'-mons,"  p. 
of  Christ  is  not  set  before  us  as  the  principal 
matter  of  the  command,  "  Do  this."  That  is  the 
direction  but  not  the  substance  of  the  command. 
What  we  are  to  do  is  to  take  and  eat,  to  take 
and  drink  ;  eat  that  over  which  the  sentence 
has  been  pronounced,  "This  is  My  body,"  drink 
that  of  which  it  has  been  said,  "  This  is  the  new 
testament  in  My  blood."  In  view  of  this,  I  have 
spoken  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  means  by  which 
Christ  coninninicates  Himself  to  His  Church. 


92  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

The  position  which  I  would  assume  in  regard 
to  the  words  of  our  Lord,  as  has  already  been 
indicated,  is  briefly  this  : — They  are  no  more  to 
be  interpreted  in  the  mere  letter  than  are  such 
John  X.  7;  words  as  "  I  am  the  door,"  "  I  am  the  true  vine," 
to  be  held  as  declaring  that  Christ  is  literally  a 
door,  or  literally  a  vine.  To  suppose  that  the 
bread  which  the  Lord  held  in  His  hand  had  been 
changed  into  His  body — the  body  in  which  He 
was  then  amongst  His  disciples — is  to  suppose 
that  which  is  "  repugnant  to  reason."  To  insist 
that,  after  consecration,  when  there  has  been 
truly  the  intention  to  consecrate,  bread  ceases  to 
be  bread,  although  retaining  the  accidents  of 
bread,  and  becomes  the  very  body  of  Christ  in 
which  He  is  offered  up  to  His  Father,  is  to 
insist  on  that  which  is  "  repugnant  not  to  Scrip- 
ture alone,  but  even  to  common  sense  and  reason, 
"Confession  ^nd  ovcrthrowcth  thc  nature  of  the  Sacrament." 
clp^^jpl"'  Nevertheless,  the  words  of  institution  are  not 

to  be  explained  away.  If  we  ask,  Has  Christ, 
in  any  other  discourse,  shed  light  on  the  mean- 
ing which  He  attaches  to  them  ?  our  answer 
must  be  that  the  fullest  exposition  of  that 
spiritual  truth  is  to  be  found  in  the  sermon 
preached  at  Capernaum  on  the  bread  of  life. 
Not  that  we  are  at  liberty  to  say,  this  sermon 
was  intended  to  be  the  commentary  on 
the  doctrine  of  the  Supper.  It  has  a  signi- 
fication apart   from  and    beyond    the   outward 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  93 

ordinance.  But  the  ordinance,  for  all  that 
is  most  blessed  and  real  in  its  observance, 
refers  us  to  that  sermon.  There  we  have  the 
Lord  Himself  interpreting  what  is  the  reality 
signified  by  the  bread  to  be  eaten  and  the 
cup  to  be  drunk.  We  can  trace  some  differ- 
ences in  utterance  between  the  earlier  and 
the  later  speech.  The  earlier  uses  the  future 
tense,  "  The  flesh  which  I  will  give  for  the  life 
of  the  world  ;  "  the  later  uses  a  present  with  the  John  vi.  51. 
force  of  a  past,  "  My  body,  which  is  broken,  is 
bei>ig  broken," — the  same  consciousness  of  the 
death  as  already  a  fact  which  appeared  in  the 
exclamation,  "  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified." 
The  earlier  speaks  only  of  the  Jlesh,  the  later 
speaks  of  "the  body;''  and  it  is  difficult  to 
dissociate  from  the  "  body  "  the  fuller  new  testa- 
ment conception  of  the  Church  as  Christ's  body 
— Himself  being  its  head — so  that  the  bread  of 
the  sacrament  may  be  regarded  as  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  whole  Christ,  Head  and  body, 
the  unity  formed  and  fulfilled  in  the  sacrifice  of 
the  flesh. 

But  the  essential  point  of  the  teaching  in  the 
earlier  sermon,  which  we  transfer  to  our  under- 
standing of  the  Eucharist,  is  that  in  it  we  are 
called,  in  a  true  although  spiritual  sense,  to 
realise  our  part  in,  to  eat  and  drink  of,  the 
body  and  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  Every- 
thing   connected    with    such    a    rite    has    its 


94  THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP. 

value.  We  may  note  the  change  of  tone  in 
regard  to  its  two  parts.  The  one  part  is  directly- 
related  to  "  My  body  ; "  the  other,  which  was 
"after  the  Supper,"  is  directly  related  to  the 
new  testament  i7i  the  blood,  not  to  the  blood 
itself.  The  one  points  us  to  the  seat  and  prin- 
ciple of  all  our  nourishment  in  body  and  soul — 
we  live  out  of,  we  live  by,  the  humanity  of  the 
risen  Christ ;  the  other  reminds  us  of  the  position 
which  we  occupy,  and  calls  us  individually  to 
realise  its  blessedness.  "You  who  are  feeding 
on  Christ  in  your  hearts  with  thanksgiving, 
drink  ye  all  of  the  new  testament  in  His  blood." 
And  what,  my  readers,  is  the  pledge  which, 
through  the  action  He  appoints,  our  Lord  is 
giving  us  .''  Is  it  not  that  when,  in  obedience  to 
Him,  we  do  this,  He  makes  our  doing  effectual 
to  spiritual  nourishment  and  growth  in  grace  } 
By  the  co-operating  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
there   is,  simultaneously  with    the    eating   and 

■  drinking  of  the  sacramental  mysteries,  an  eating 
and  drinking  of  the  truths  which  they  represent, 
Christ,  in  His  broken  body,  gives  Himself  anew 
to  us;  we  appropriate  anew  our  share  in  His 
testament  with  all  its  benefits.  It  is  not  an 
empty  rite — not  a  mere,  although  touching,  cere- 
mony— it  is  a  transaction  between  Christ  and 
us,  the  measure  or  proof  of  which  is  not  our 

feeling  of  something,  but  His  will  to  bestow,  %vho 
is  "  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 


THE  BREAD  AND  THE  CUP.  95 

we  ask  or  thinks  I  believe  that  the  Lord's  EpUesians 
table  is  indeed  the  communion  table ;  that  it  is 
the  place  and  the  manner  of  special  communion, 
Christ  with  the  life  of  man  as  well  as  the  life  of 
man  with  Christ.  "We  partake  not  now  of  a 
dead  sacrifice,  such  as  the  Israelites  ate,  but  of 
a  living,  the  life  and  immortal  communication 
of  which  was  not  attained  to  in  the  old  covenant."  "Stier,"  vii. 
This  sacrifice  is  communicated  to  the  Church  "^' 
through  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  and  each  person, 
in  the  membership  of  the  Church,  whose  mouth 
is  opened  to  receive  and  assimilate  it  is,  in  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord,  a  communicant  in  this 
sacrifice.  "  Eat,"  "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed  ;  " 
"Drink,"  "My  blood  is  drink  indeed.  As  the 
living  Father  hath  sent  Me,  and  I  live  by  the 
Father,  so  he  that  eateth  Me  shall  live  by  Me."   J°''"  "'•  ^'=- 

An  ordinance  thus  related  to  the  person  and 
work  of  Christ  cannot  but  occupy  a  place  of 
marked  importance  in  the  life  and  discipline  of 
tJie  Church.  To  define  this  place,  as  fore- 
shadowed in  the  institution  and  illustrated  by 
Christian  experience,  will  be  the  object  of 
the  following  chapter. 


VIII. 

THE   lord's   supper   IN    HIS   CHURCH. 

St  John  xiii.  33-35  ;  St  Matt.  xxvi.  29  ;  St  Mark  xiv.  25. 

"When  ye  come  together.  .  .   .  to  eat  the  Lord's  Supper " — 
I  Cor.  xi.  20. 

To  the  first  disciples  the  recollection  of  the 
evening  in  the  upper  room  was  enhanced  and 
enforced  by  the  recollection  of  appearances 
after  the  resurrection  in  which  their  Lord  "  was 
Lukexxiv.  known  of  them  in  breaking  of  bread."  When 
johnxxi.  13.  the  Holy  Ghost  brought  "all  things  to  their  re- 
membrance," and  taught  them  the  meaning  of 
these  things,  as  embodied  both  in  word  and 
deed,  the  meal  which  had  been  instituted  be- 
came the  most  prominent  feature  of  their  fellow- 
ship. In  the  course  of  time,  there  grew  up 
around  it  conceptions  which  in  part  were 
borrowed  from  the  heathen  mystery,  and  in 
part  were  the  expression  of  the  sacrificial  aspect 
of  the  Paschal  Supper.  And  thus  the  notion  of 
a  sacrifice — not  merely  an  "  oblation  of  all  pos- 
sible praise "  to  God,  but  a  presentation,  a 
repetition,  of  the  offering  made  by  Christ, 
gradually  overshadowed  and  obscured  the  earlier 


THE  LORDS  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH.       97 

and  purer  ideas  of  memorial  and  communion. 
But  no  such  notion  confused  the  thought  of 
Christians  in  the  apostoHc  period  and  in  tlie 
century  succeeding.  Happy  men  !  They  knew 
nothing  of  Eucharistic  controversies  !  Tliey 
were  content  to  recall  what  their  Master  had 
said  and  done  ;  they  felt — without  needing  to 
elaborate  any  system  or  doctrine  on  the  subject 
— that  the  "  cup  of  blessing  which  they  blessed 
was  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
the  bread  which  they  broke  was  the  communion 
of  the  body  of  Christ."  i  cor.  xi.  16. 

A  beautiful  glimpse  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity in  the  first  hour  of  morning  is  given  in 
a  passage  from  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  previously  alluded  to.  The  "  three 
thousand  souls"  added  to  the  church  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  "  continued  stedfastly  in  the 
Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  break- 
i^^S  of  bread  and  in  prayers."  "And  all  that 
believed.  .  .  .  continuing  daily  with  one  accord 
in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  from  house  to 
house,  did  cat  their  meat  with  gladness  and 
singleness  of  heart."  There  can  be  little  doubt  Acts h. 42-46. 
that  this  eating  of  meat  had  a  symbolic  and 
sacramental  character.  Probably,  a  simple, 
social  feast  was  held  of  which  all  shared,  and  in 
which,  as  its  climax,  there  was  the  special  re- 
membrance of  Jesus  in  the  blessing  of  the  bread 
and  the  cup.  How  this  would  be  done  we  are 
G 


98      THE  lord's  supper  IN  HIS  CHURCH. 

enabled  to  conceive  from  the  description  of  the 
custom  of  the  churches  given  by  Justin,  who 
was  put  to  death  about  the  year  165  A.D. 
"  There  is  brought,"  he  says,  "  to  the  president 
of  the  brethren  bread  and  a  cup  of  wine  mingled 
with  water,  and  he,  taking  them,  gives  praise 
and  glory  to  the  Father  of  the  Universe, 
through  the  name  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  offers  thanks  at  considerable  length 
for  our  being  counted  worthy  to  receive  these 
things  at  His  hands.  And  when  He  has  given 
thanks,  and  all  the  people  have  expressed  their 
assent,  those  who  are  called  by  us  deacons  give 
to  each  of  those  present  to  partake  of  the 
bread  and  wine  mingled  with  water  over  which 
the  thanksgiving  was  pronounced,  and  for  those 
"First Apo-  who  are  absent  they  carry  away  a  portion." 
Uj^gy,  cap.    g^^j^j^  ^^,^g    ^^Q   practice    in    the    assemblies    of 

believers  in  the  second  century,  when,  in 
consequence  of  abuses  which  had  occasioned 
scandal,  the  reception  "  of  the  food  called  the 
Eucharist"  was  disengaged  from  the  meal  in 
I  Cor.  xi.  21.  which  "every  one  took  his  own  supper."  In 
the  beginning,  when  it  was  the  crowning  act 
of  such  a  meal,  the  custom  must  have  been 
even  more  simple  than  that  sketched  by  the 
Christian  Father. 

Taking  a  more  general  view  of  the  ordinance, 
the  inquiry  awaiting  our  consideration  is,  What 


THE  LORD  S  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH.       99 

has  its  appointment  and  observance  secured  for 
the  life  and  discipline  of  the  church  ?  A  wide 
question,  at  only  three  sides  of  which  we  can 
glance ! 

It  is  the  Ark  of  tJie  Chiirclis  Testimony. — "As 
often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup  ye 
do  show,  *or  preach,'  the  Lord's  death."  There  is  i  Cor.  xi.  26. 
the  central  point  of  Christian  truth — the  person 
of  Christ.  There  is  the  central  position  of 
Christian  faith  —  the  death  of  Christ  as  the 
basis  of  reconciliation  with  God  and  all  spiritual 
blessing.  There  is  the  central  privilege  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship — the  proclaiming  or  preaching 
of  that  death.  The  Lord's  Supper  stands  in 
the  midst  of  Christendom  the  abiding  witness 
for  essential  and  everlasting  verity. 

Is  not  this  an  unspeakable  gain  }  Recollect, 
for  instance,  some  of  the  tendencies  of  thought 
which  have  been  manifest  in  successive  ages  ; 
and  see  how  good  it  has  been  that  the  Lord  has 
"  lifted  up  a  standard  against  the  enemy  coming 
in  like  a  flood."  isa.  Hx-.  19. 

One  of  such  tendencies  is  towards  a  kind  of 
philosophical  speculation  whicJi  uses  historical  fact 
only  as  a  convenient  symbol.  In  the  early  times, 
there  were  those  who  spiritualised  Scripture 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  literal  sense 
was  "nothing  accounted  of;"  on  the  words 
of  Scripture  was  constructed  an  edifice  of  fan- 


lOO    THE  lord's  supper  IN  HIS  CHURCH- 

tastic  creations,  sometimes  beautiful,  sometimes 
really  interpreting  a  hidden  truth,  but  some- 
times also  far-fetched,  even  "  handling  the  word 
of  God  deceitfully."  Against  this  school  of 
allegorists,  there  remained  ever  the  protest  of  a 
rite  which  had  no  meaning  at  all,  unless  the 
plain  fact  of  Christ's  death,  with  the  history  to 
which  it  belonged,  was  fully  admitted.  And  so 
with  regard  to  "  the  generation,  O  how  lofty 
its  eyes  ! "  who  in  these  same  times  spun  their 
fancies  about  the  gnosis,  the  inner,  recondite 
truth,  to  which  only  the  initiated  might  attain, 
who  developed  what  St  Paul  saw  to  be  working 
in  his  day,  "  the  profane  and  vain  babblings  " 
against  which  he  warned  the  ministers  of  God. 
Let  us  not  think  that  our  age  is,  or  any  age  can 
be,  free  from  the  peril  of  systems  of  thought 
which  would  separate  religion  from  any  special 
record  of  history.  Indeed,  that  represents  a 
marked  feature  in  much  of  the  culture  of  the  day. 
The  facts  to  which  Christianity  appeals  are 
regarded  as  mere  shapes  in  which  religious 
ideas  have  taken  form — shapes  to  be  retained 
or  set  aside  in  proportion  as  their  fitness  is 
recognised  by  the  mind.  But,  what  is  to  be 
made  of  the  rite  which  the  immemorial  use  of 
the  Christian  Church  has  hallowed  as  the  sign 
and  seal  of  the  Catholic  faith  1  Turn  where 
we  may,  it  meets  our  view,  and  always  it 
points   to   Jesus    Christ,  who  was  born,  lived, 


THE  LORD  S  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH.    lOI 

"  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified, 
dead,  buried,  and  rose  again  on  the  third 
day."  It  insists  on  keeping  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus  firmly  rooted  and  grounded  in 
the  soil  of  sober  history.  From  all  intellectual 
wanderings,  it  draws  the  heart  ever  to  the  fire 
— ever  to  the  cross  and  the  death  of  the  Lord. 
It  is  a  law  and  testimony;  if  any  speak  not 
according  to  it,  it  is  because  the  true  Christian  isa.  viii.  ^o. 
light  is  not  in  them. 

Another  tendency  fraught  with  danger  is  to 
substitute  a  mere  religious  morality  for  salvatioji 
from  sin  through  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  revolt 
of  many  minds  from  what  is  called  "  the  blood 
theology  "  is  undoubted.  And  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  occasion  for  this  revolt  has,  too 
often,  been  given  by  hard  and  harsh  utterances 
as  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  eternal  righteous- 
ness demanded  from  and  yielded  by  the 
Redeemer.  But  who  can  say,  remembering 
that  of  which  all  are  invited  to  drink — "the 
new  testament  in  my  blood  shed  for  many,  for 
the  remission  of  sins^' — that  it  is  possible,  consist- 
ently with  its  own  claim,  to  reduce  the  new  testa- 
ment of  our  Lord  to  an  ethic,  however  pure  and 
lofty  ;  to  think  of  Him  as  only  an  example, 
however  perfect,  of  obedience  to  the  will  of 
God  and  sympathy  with  men.  So  long  as  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  exalted  in  the  Church,  it  will 
be  impossible  to  expel  the  conviction  that  there 


I02    THE  LORDS  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH. 

is  something  in  the  death  of  Christ  which  the 
thought  of  an  example  cannot  exhaust,  some- 
thing more  in  His  sufferings  than  the  pain  of 
the  righteous,  than  even  the  pressure  on  a  pure 
and  unspotted  heart  of  the  consciousness  of  "our 
exceeding  misery  ;"  that,  beyond  all  this,  in  a 
region  which  we  cannot  penetrate,  there  was  on 
the  Cross  made  "a  full,  and  perfect,  and  sufficient 
sacrifice,  satisfaction,  and  oblation,  for  the  sin 
of  the  whole  world."  It  is  enough  to  say  this  ; 
and,  for  the  rest,  to  imitate  the  wise  reticence  of 
Bishop  Butler — '^  How  and  in  what  particular 
way  it  had  this  efficacy  there  are  not  wanting 
persons  who  have  endeavoured  to  explain,  but  I 

"Analogy,"  do  not  find  that  Scripture  has  explained  it." 

partn.cap.5.  ^j^^^  is  the  testimony  of  the  Lord's  Supper.^ 
Let  me  state  it  in  the  words  of  a  prelate  re- 
markable for  his  shrewdness — "  If  Christ  had 
■  been  merely  a  martyr — the  greatest  of  all 
martyrs — to  the  cause  of  divine  truth,  it  would 
indeed  have  been  natural  that  his  death  should 
have  been  in  some  vv^ay  solemnly  commemo- 
rated by  the  Church  ;  and  perhaps  by  some 
symbolical  commemoration  of  the  deatJi  itself; 
but  not  by  the  eating  and  drinking  of  the  sym- 
bols of  His  body  and  blood.  This  would  be  an 
unmeaning  and  utterly  absurd  kind  of  ceremo- 
nial in  celebrating  a  mere  martyrdom,  such  as 

^rhf  Sacra-  that  of  Stephen,  for  instance,  or  of  any  other 

^oe"'*'"  P'     martyr  however  eminent," 


THE  lord's  supper  IN  HIS  CHURCH.     IO3 

Thus,  then,  in  eating  the  Lord's  Supper  we 
show  the  Lord's  death  ;  we  take  our  part  in  the 
preaching  of  the  sermon  "  world  without  end," 
whose  text  is,  "Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified." 
As  the  word  of  testimony  was  contained  in  the 
ark,  so  the  word,  the  ministry  of  reconciliation, 
is  contained  in  the  ordinance  which  Christ  ap- 
pointed on  the  night  in  which  He  was  betrayed. 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  the  sign  of  the  one  body, 
the  expression  and  bond  of  Christian  union.    I  do 
not  suppose,  as  some  thoughtful  expositors  have 
suggested,  that  the  matter  of  the  new  command- 
ment recorded  by  St  John  was  the  institution  of 
the  Supper ;    and   that  the  latter  part  of  the 
verse  in  his  Gospel,  "  That  ye  love  one  another  ; 
as    I    have    loved  yon^    that  ye   also    love   one 
another','  describes   only  the  intention   of,  the  john xiii. 34- 
purpose  to  be  served  by,  the  commandment,  or 
the  meal  which  Christ  enjoined.     This  seems  to 
me  a  forced  and  unnatural  interpretation.     The 
substance  of  the  commandment,  which  is  called 
nezv,  is  Love  ;  and  that  which  makes  it  new  is 
the  measure  now  presented,  the  rule  now  given, 
the    motive    power    now   called    into    exercise. 
That  men  should  love  one  another  is  a  teaching 
of  any  and  every  form  of  natural  piety  :  it  is  a 
law  as  old  as  human  nature.    But  that  men  had 
not  fulfilled  this  law,  that  the  perception  of  its 
universal   character   had    scarcely   visited   and 


r04    THE  LORDS  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH. 

influenced  human  thought,  is  simply  the  teach- 
ing of  history.  A  man  as  such  was  not  accounted 
a  brother.  It  was  a  virtue  to  hate  the  foreigner. 
The  slave  was  the  mere  chattel  of  his  master. 
The  neighbour  was  a  fact  recognised  only  in 
so  far  as  it  was  convenient  to  recognise  him. 
What  was  wanting  was  that  which  Christ 
supplied — a  standard  to  which  the  appeal  of 
the  heart  was  straight  and  direct;  a  centre  of 
unity ;  a  spirit  of  life  prompting  irresistibly 
to  love ;  a  fellowship  which  would  educate  the 
charity  which  "  still  enlarged  as  it  receives  the 
grace  includes  creation  in  its  wide  embrace " 
— "  Even  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  also  love 
one  another." 

The  "  new  commandment "  is  a  word  at  once 
of  the  Father  to  His  little  children,  and  of  the 
Master  to  His  disciples.  A  word  of  the  Father 
spoken  in  the  prospect  of  being  shortly  separated 
from  His  own,  of  His  going  whither  they  cannot 
follow.  In  His  absence.  He  reminds  them  that 
they  shall  find  their  solace  and  strength,  they 
shall  realise,  too.  His  spiritual  presence,  in  the 
warmth  of  a  mutual  love  derived  from  and 
resembling  His  love  to  them.  A  luord  of  the 
Master,  assuring  them  that  their  witness  for 
Him,  and  their  highest  power  on  the  world 
outside  would  be  found,  not  in  mighty  works 
which  should  excite  wonder  and  admiration, 
but  in  the  silent,  yet  ever  convincing  action  of 


THE  lord's  supper  IN  HIS  CHURCH.     IO5 

love.     "  In  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are 

My  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another !'  johnxiii.ss- 

So  it  was.  We  recall — we  read  with  some- 
thing of  mournful  interest,  because  the  expres- 
sion of  the  love  is  fainter  in  the  Church  of  this 
day  than  it  should  be — we  recall  the  words  of 
the  Christian  apologist,  in  which  he  witnesses 
for  the  spirit  of  the  Church  before  yet  the  third 
century  of  the  Christian  period  had  dawned,  and 
exhibits  the  width  of  the  interval  by  which  the 
new  commandment  had  separated  it  from  the 
world.  Addressing  the  rulers  of  the  Roman 
Empire  thus,  he  writes  : — "  It  is  mainly  the  deeds 
of  a  love  so  noble  that  lead  many  to  put  a  brand 
upon  us.  See,  they  say,  how  they  love  one 
another,  for  themselves  are  animated  by  mutual 
hatred  ;  how  they  are  ready  even  to  die  for  one 
another,  for  they  themselves  will  sooner  put  to 
death.  And  they  are  wroth  with  us,  too,  be- 
cause we  call  each  other  brethren,  for  no  other 
reason,  as  I  think,  than  because  among  them- 
selves names  of  consanguinity  are  assumed  in 
mere  pretence  of  affection.  But  we  are  your 
brethren  as  well,  by  the  law  of  our  common 
mother  nature,  though  you  are  hardly  men, 
because  brothers  so  unkind."  "TenuUian 

Now,  in  the  ordinance  of  Christ's  Supper  all  cus,"  par.  39. 
the   essentials  of  the  new  commandment   are 
presented.     The  commandment  is  the  soul  of 
the  new  testament  in  the  Redeemer's  blood  of 


I06    THE  lord's  supper  IN  HIS  CHURCH. 

which,  in  the  cup,  we  drink.  It  is  the  life  of  the 
Life  which  we  receive  through  the  body,  of 
which,  in  the  bread,  we  sacramentally  eat.  More 
particularly,  we  may  observe — 

In  the  commandment  Christ  does  not  bid  His 
disciples  love  men  as  men.  That  was  the  end 
to  which  He  looked  forward,  but,  as  the  means  to 
this  end,  He  proposed  a  love,  man  to  man,  in 
and  because  of  the  love  of  men  to  Himself.  It 
is  to  this  love  and  loyalty  that  the  Holy  Supper 
calls  us.  What  it  asks  is  a  supreme  and  con- 
stant devotion  to  Him.  Creed,  ritual,  govern- 
ment— all  are  moved  aside ;  it  is  purely  and 
only  into  the  remembrance  of  Him  that  we  "  do 
this." 

In  the  commandment  Christ  speaks  of  the 
infusion  of  His  own  love,  His  own  Self,  into  all 
thus  loving  Him  and  keeping  His  words.  Their 
love  is  but  the  outward  movement  of  His  love 
in  them,  the  manifestation  of  Himself  as  truly 
dwelling  in  them.  The  reality  of  the  Holy 
Supper  is  this  indwelling  of  Christ,  this  passing 
of  His  life  into,  that  it  may  be  assimilated  by, 
the  spiritual  nature,  as  food  is  assimilated  by 
the  physical.  In  the  consciousness  of  union 
with  Him  we  may  feel  ourselves  so  possessed 
by  His  spirit  that  it  is  not  the  language  of 
exaggeration  to  say,  "  I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but 
Gal.  ii.  20.  Christ  liveth  in  me."  And,  as  each  type  of 
existence  yields   fruit    after   its   kind,   so   this 


THE  LORDS  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH.     \Oj 

Divine  eternal  life  has  its  natural  organic  ex- 
pression in  a  love  to  others,  such  as  His  love  in  us. 
In  the  new  commandment,  Christ  implies  the 
fact  of  a  society,  with  a  distinct  corporate  char- 
acter, whose  members  are  bound  to  each  other 
in  a  speciality  of  relation,  in  affections  and  sym- 
pathies of  peculiar  vitality  and  warmth.  After- 
wards, in  His  prayer  to  the  Father,  He  dwells  on 
the  truth  of  this  communion,  "I  in  them  and  Thou 
in  Me,  that  they  may  be  one  in  us."  The  Holy 
Supper  is  the  token  and  pledge  of  this  fellow- 
ship, "We  being  many  are"  declared  to  be  "one 
bread  and  one  body,  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  j  c^r.  x.  17. 
that  one  bread."  There  is  no  feature  more 
distinctive  than  this — that  all  Christians  are 
members  one  of  another,  because  they  are  all 
members  of  the  one  Christ. 

"  Is  Christ  divided  ?    Yea,  for  us. 
The  one  white  loaf  He  breaks  ; 
But  every  piece  is  bread,  and  thus 
Of  one  strength  each  partakes." 

Nor  do  we  limit  this  fellowship  to  those 
actually  associated  with  us  in  the  celebration 
of  the  meal ;  not  even  to  those  who  form 
Christ's  family  on  earth.  The  Lord's  table, 
wherever  it  is  spread,  is  the  gathering  point 
for  all  the  family.  There  the  whole  Church  is 
together.  A  pity  it  is  that  the  rite  which  we 
name  the  Covimuiiion  should  so  often  be  regarded 
as  a  line  of  separation,  rather  than  that  in  which 


ro8  THE  lord's  supper  in  his  church. 

all  lines  of  separation  are  obliterated,  and  we 
are  borne  into  the  midst  of  the  One  Body. 
Oh,  my  reader,  shall  we  not  seek  deliverance 
from  all  that  narrows  the  sense  of  the  Com- 
munion of  Saints  ?  Shall  we  not  cherish 
more  the  feeling  of  Christendom  ?  Shall  we 
not  endeavour  more  vividly  to  realise  that 
Christendom  is  a  larger  word  than  we  can 
measure ;  that  it  includes  the  dead  who  have 
died,  as  well  as  the  living  who  live,  in  the  Lord ; 
that  "  death  makes  no  vacancy  in  its  lists,  but 
at  its  banquet-table  the  perfected  spirits  of  just 
men,  with  an  innumerable  company  of  angels, 
sit  down  beside  those  who  have  not  yet  sur- 
Ecce  Homo,  rendered  their  bodies  to  the  grave." 

Thus  the  Lord's  Supper,  substantiating  the 
new  commandment,  is  the  sign  of  the  One  Body; 
and  as  such  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  over-esti- 
mate its  influence  on  the  history  and  discipline 
of  the  Church.  It  has  kept  the  heart  warm. 
Its  "still  small  voice,"  overborne  by  the  strife 
of  controversy,  has  always  been  heard  after  the 
earthquake.  It  has  supplied  a  force  which 
works  deeper  than  all  that  breaks  the  unity 
of  the  body.  It  has  its  word  of  separation — 
separation  from  "the  world  that  lieth  in  wicked- 
ness." But  it  binds  the  separated  people  to- 
gether ;  presenting  the  hallowed  memorial,  it 
repeats  the  gentle  word,  "  Love  one  ajiotJier,  as 
I  have  loved  y  oil,  that  ye  also  love  one  another" 


THE  lord's  SUrPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH.     IO9 

Finally,  the  Lord's  Supper  marks  the  horizon 
of  all  Christian  zuorship  and  service.  "  Till  He  i  Cor.  xi.  26. 
cojne "  is  part  of  the  institution  as  received  by 
St  Paul.  And  is  not  this  clause  only  the  epitome 
of  the  word  which  two  of  the  evangelists  report 
our  Lord  to  have  uttered  after  He  had  charged 
His  disciples  to  drink  of  the  cup.  Let  my 
readers  observe  that  there  is  a  Jirst,  and  that 
there  is  a  second,  announcement  as  to  the  drink- 
ing of  Christ  with  His  own.  The  first,  related 
by  St  Luke,  preceded  the  appointment  of  the 
Eucharist.  It  was  the  declaration  that  He  Luke  xxH. 
would  not  share  the  Passover-cup  with  them 
until  it  had  received  its  completion  in  the  sacra- 
ment to  be  observed  after  He  had  risen  from 
the  dead.  But  now,  having  instituted  the  sacra- 
ment, there  is  still  the  look  forward  ;  there  is 
the  second  of  the  announcements  referred  to, 
and  this  time  we  trace  a  difference.  Having- 
passed  the  cup,  the  Master  subjoins,  "  But  I  say 
unto  you,  '  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this 
fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  zvhen  I  drink  it 
neiv  zuith  you  in  Jl/y  Fathers  kingdom'  "  Mark,  Matt.  xxvi. 
it  is  not  merely  "drink  wine  aneiu  with  you."  Mark xi v. 25. 
What  is  pointed  to  is  a  neia  luine — wine  of  a 
higher  quality,  of  another  kind  and  character — 
that  which  is  to  be  drunk  when  the  kingdom  of 
the  Father  is  fully  come.  The  Apostle's  clause 
identifies  this  kingdom-coming  with  the  Church's 
"  blessed  hope  " — the  coming  of  her  Lord. 


I  lO    THE  LORD  S  SUPPER  IN  HIS  CHURCH. 

Therefore,  the  Holy  Supper  is  prophetic  as  well 
as  commemorative.  We  not  only  rest  in  thought 
on  what  has  been  finished ;  we  anticipate  in 
desire  the  glory  yet  to  be  manifested.  Our 
thanksgiving  is  for  the  death,  in  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  appearing,  of  the  Lord.  In  every 
celebration  of  the  rite,  there  is  a  witness  borne 
to  the  still  imperfect  condition  of  the  Church. 
We  have  only  the  first  fruits  of  the  spirit.  The 
kingdom  is,  but  it  is  only  in  its  beginning.  We 
possess  but  the  token-penny,  the  earnest,  of  the 
inheritance.  This  is  not  the  final  dispensation. 
We  have  not  yet  attained,  neither  are  we  perfect. 
It  were  sad  to  be  shut  up  to  the  belief  that  the 
period  which  began  when  the  Lord  was  received 
out  of  sight  is  the  realisation  of  His  marriage 
supper.  No ;  we  are  seeing  through  a  glass 
darkly :  the  seeing  face  to  face  is  yet  to  be. 
We  have  truths,  festivals,  governments,  minis- 
tries, only  in  fragments ;  the  harmony,  the 
order  in  which  all  is  proportioned — "that  which 
is  perfect " — is  to  come.  This  is  what  the  table 
prepared  for  us  certifies.  Many  minds  have 
many  opinions  as  to  the  manner  of  the  second 
advent  ;  but  all  Christians,  in  eating  and  drink- 
ing according  to  Christ's  commandment,  are 
exhorted  to  look  for,  and  hasten  the  day  of,  the 
Lord — "  that  day  when  He  shall  drink  the  new 
cup  with  His  Disciples  in  His  Father's  king- 
dom." 

"  Even  so,  come  Lord  Jesnsr 


IX. 

THE    TABLE-TALK. 

St  John  xiii.  23-25,  and  36-38. 

Conversation  usually  followed  the  passing  of 
the  third  cup  at  the  Paschal  Supper.  The 
ceremonial  of  the  feast  having  been  observed, 
there  was  then  liberty  for  the  exchange  of 
thought  among  the  members  of  the  family. 
Thus,  after  the  blessing  of  the  bread  and  the 
cup  by  our  Lord,  the  fulness  of  speech,  hitherto 
restrained,  poured  forth.  Follow  the  course  of 
the  stream  as  it  rolls  on  to  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  chapter  —  oh,  my  readers,  what 
depths  of  love  are  there !  It  is  related  that, 
towards  the  close  of  his  life,  the  illustrious 
Vinet  contemplated  the  exposition  of  these 
precious  words.  He  stopped  :  He  exclaimed, 
"  A  Divine  confusion  ! "  It  is  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish the  sequences  and  connections  of  the 
discourse.  We  cannot  divide  it  into  paragraphs, 
each  presenting  a  point  distinct  from  all  the 
others.  The  speech  is  too  spontaneous,  too 
much  the  thinking  aloud  of  love  intense  in  its 


I  I  2  THE  TABLE-TALK. 

consciousness,  and  seeing  the  truth  it  expresses, 
to  be  held  in  by  the  bit  and  bridle  of  human 
logic.     Let   it   be  said  with  reverence  that  it 

o 

belongs  to  a  region  in  which  the  poor  rules  of 
composition  and  utterance  avail  not.  Who 
would  describe  it  as  eloquent  .-*  Who  would 
attach  to  it  any  of  the  phrases  which  we  are 
wont  to  attach  to  the  excellency  of  the  wisdom 
of  men  }  No  ;  this  outpouring  of  the  heart  of 
Christ  must  not  be  too  minutely  analysed  ;  we 
must  not  insist  on  measuring  it  by  the  canons 
of  rhetoric,  or  mapping  it  out  according  to  the 
plan  of  the  dialectician.  With  regard  to  it, 
preeminently,  the  voice  of  the  Eternal  may  be 
heard,  "  To  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him 
that  is  poor  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  that 
isa.ixvi.  2.  trevibleth  at  My  zvord."  Let  us  say,  with  Vinet, 
"A  Divine  confusion,"  and  forbear  from  search- 
ing for  a  scheme  or  schedule  in  which  a  place  is 
found  for  every  sentence,  and  a  consecutive 
development  of  ideas  is  traced. 

It  is  a  consolation  which  Christ  unfolds.  We 
can  see  that,  in  the  unfolding,  He  passes  from 
the  condition  of  His  disciples  immediately  con- 
sequent on  His  departure  to  the  more  general 
condition  of  His  disciples  as  such.  The  near 
and  the  remote  are  included  in  the  perspective, 
but  they  are  always  mingled ;  the  Lord  returns 
from  one  to  another,  and  unites  both  in  many 
of  His  sayings.    The  substance  of  the  consolation 


THE  TABLE-TALK.  I  I  3 

is — Himself.  It  begins,  continues,  and  ends  in 
sublime  self-assertion.  We  can  discern  the 
stripes  of  light  in,  but  always  in,  this  self- 
assertion.  First,  there  is  Himself  in  the  mystery 
of  His  ozvn  being;  secondly.  Himself  in  the 
relation  of  His  person  to  His  own,  as  the  centre 
and  principle  of  their  life.  In  the  first,  the 
predominating  consciousness  is  the  Father  ;  the 
glance  of  the  Son  is  to  the  glory  with  "the 
Father's  own  self,  which  He  had  before  the  John  .wii.  5. 
world  was."  In  the  second,  the  predominating 
consciousness  is  the  Church ;  its  union  with 
Him;  its  indwelling  Guide  and  Illuminator;  its 
antagonisms  and  conflicts ;  its  final  and  ever- 
lasting blessedness.  But,  here  again,  there  is  no 
clear  separation  of  topics  ;  it  is  not  with  sharply 
cut  divisions,  but,  as  has  already  been  said,  with 
stripes  of  light  that  we  have  to  do.  I  will  not 
farther  analyse.  I  will  not  attempt  to  arrange 
the  discourse  in  sections.  I  have  read  and 
studied  many  such  sectional  arrangements,  and 
none  of  them  has  fully  satisfied  me.  Rather 
let  us  follow  the  Master  whithersoever,  in  the 
revelation  of  His  mind.  He  goes ;  seeking  only 
that  we  listen  to  Him  for  His  word  not  for  con- 
ceptions or  commentary  of  our  own,  and  praying 
in  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  Holy  Ghost  whose 
"  anointing  teacheth  of  all  things,  and  is  truth, 
and  is  no  lie."  Verily,  we  are  drawing  near  i  John  ii.  ^7. 
H 


1  14  THE  TABLE-TALK. 

to  the   Holy  of  Holies  in  the  life  of  the  Son 
of  God. 

"  That  wonderful  passage,"  as  one  has  written 
in  glowing  sentences,  "  from  every  line  of  which 
shines  forth  the  Divinity  of  Him  who  spake, 
though  each  syllable  be  tinged  with  the  sadness 
of  a  soul  which  even  now  gazed  full  on  the 
agony  in  the  garden,  and  bore,  in  prospect,  the 
crown  of  thorns — syllables,  too,  which  were 
uttered  from  the  very  shadow  of  the  tomb  ! 
Who  is  there  that  peruses  these  solemn  words 
whose  heart  does  not  burn  within  him,  as  each 
expression  of  human  affection — that  sympathy 
with  His  earthly  brethren  which  every  tone 
conveys — became  the  point  of  contact  through 
which  those  revelations  of  the  eternal  word 
reach  the  spirit  of  man  ?  .  .  ,  When  difficulties 
embarrass  the  reason,  and  perplexities  entangle 
the  intellect — and  who  is  that  man  over  whose 
understanding  doubt  has  not  at  times  cast  its 
shadow,  or  whose  faith  the  stern  realities  of  life 
have  not  put  to  the  trial  ? — the  fainting  soul 
will  find  its  refuge  in  the  words  which  introduce 
this  series  of  promise  and  encouragement,  words 
which  still  whisper  to  our  ear  the  same  assurance 
that  once  supported  the  Apostle  sinking  in  the 
wind-tossed  sea :  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
Lee  on        yc  belicvc  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me." 

Inspiration, 
PP-  35.  36. 

Before  we  attempt  to  glean  in  the  fields  of 


THE  TABLE-TALK.  1  I  5 

thought  to  which  the  address  of  our  Lord  invites 
us,  let  us  regard  what  I  may  call  some prdiniinary 
speech  between  Him  and  His  disciples. 

Is  not  this  an  interesting  glimpse  ?     "  Noiv, 
tJiere  was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  one  of  His 
disciples  wJiom    Jesus   loved!'     The  little  com-  Ver.  23. 
pany  assembled  in  the  upper  room  at  Jerusalem 
was    the     first    CEcumenical     Council    of  the 
Christian  Church.    The  Apostles  "  sit  on  thrones 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel," — interpre- 
ters of  the  universal  theocracy,  the  true  Israel 
of  God.     In  them  the  Church  of  all  times,  in 
the   manifoldness   of  the   operations,  and    the 
diversity  of  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  was 
represented  on  the  night  in  which  the  Lord  was 
betrayed.    The  men  rich  in  the  practical  wisdom 
of  the  spiritual  life  are  there — personated  in  St 
James.      There,    too,    are   the   men    of  critical 
temperament,   ready   to    believe    yet   insisting 
that  the  ground  be  sure — the  variety  personated 
in  St  Thomas.     There,  likewise,  are  the  men  of 
fervent  spirit,  impetuous  resolution,  and  eager 
purpose — the  variety  personated   in   St   Peter. 
All  are  within  the  sphere  of  Jesus'  attraction. 
But  the  bosom  is  reserved  for,  it  is  the  throne  of, 
the  Johns.    They  feel  the  throbs  of  the  Saviour's 
heart.  They  know  Him  as  He  knows  the  Father, 
Whose  is  the  Gospel  that  leads  to  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  that  opens   the  door  into  the    Lord's 
innermost  self.?     I   imagine  that  none  but  he 


Il6  THE  TABLE-TALK. 

who  lay  on  Jesus'  breast  had  the  outline  of 
the  last  discourse  and  the  last  prayer  com- 
plete in  its  links,  complete  in  its  clothing, 
in  His  remembrance.  The  secret  of  the  Lord 
was  with  him  — "  the  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved." 

There  is  a  type  of  mind  for  which  the  Lord 
has   prepared   "  a   pavilion    from    the   strife  of 

Ps.  xxxi  20.  tongues."  Affectionate,  disposed  to  lean,  de- 
pending on  others  "not  from  want  of  courage, 
or  from  weakness  of  intellect,  but  from  intensity 
of  affections,  because  of  the  trembling  spirit  of 

Robertson's  humanity  in  them,"  learning  Christ  by  a  kind 

Sermons,  p.  -'  '  c>  .   j 

25'-  of  spiritual  intuition — the  receptive  faculty  not 

hindered  by  the  interception  of  the  combative 
or  critical  spirit, — for  tJiis  mind  the  pavilion  is 
Jesus'  bosom.  Observe  the  24th  verse.  To 
know  the  thought  of  the  Lord's  heart,  the  Simon 
Peters,  the  leaders,  the  primates  of  the  Church, 

ver.  24.  rnust  "  beckon  "  to  the  Johns.  Theirs  is  the 
power  of    asking    the   questions    which    reach 

Ps.  xci.  I.  into  "  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High." 
Between  tJieni  and  Christ  there  are  passages 
along  which  His  voice  is  borne  to  them  as  it  is 
not  borne  to  others.  Observe,  too,  what  is 
suggested  by  the  25th  verse.  Before  he  asks, 
John  is  described  as  leaning ;  wlien  he  asks,  he 

Ver.  25.  is  lying  on  the  breast — his  ear,  as  it  were,  at  the 
very  lips  of  the  Master — reposing  and  listening, 
and  so  listening  that  not  the  softest  tone  shall 


THE  TABLE-TALK,  I  I  7 

escape  him,  that  he  shall  catch  the  whisper  of 

those  private  communications,  through  which  is 

bestowed  that  "hidden  manna,  and  that  white 

stone  with  the  new  name  written  in  it,  which  no 

man  knoweth  saving  he  who  receiveth  it."     My  Rev.  ii.  17. 

readers,  it  is  in  the  mind  thus  bent,  all  its  weight 

on  the   Saviour's  love,  its  ear  turned    to  hear, 

that    the    music    of  the    Eucharist    is    evoked, 

"  Blessed  be  the  Lord  :  for  He  hath  shewed  me 

His   marvellous    kindness    in    the   city   fenced 

from    the  pride  of  man " — the  strong  city   of 

Jesus'  bosom.  Ps.  xxxi.  21. 

But  the  narrative  sets  another  disciple  in 
our  view.  It  is  reserved  to  Simon  Peter  more 
immediately  to  introduce  the  conference  which 
Jesus  holds  with  His  own.  We  have  already 
considered  the  dialogue  between  Simon  and  his 
Master  occasioned  by  the  washing  of  the  feet. 
The  closing  part  of  the  chapter  under  review 
proves  that,  although  he  may  have  been  for  the 
time  solemnised,  he  is  the  same  Simon  Peter 
still,  full  of  "  that  impetuous  curiosity  which 
springs  from  a  lack  of  self-knowledge  and  self-  stier,  vol.  6, 
communion."  "  As  I  said  unto  the  Jews,"  Jesus  ^"^■*" 
had  said,  "  Whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come ;  so 
now  I  say  to  you."  Was  the  jealously-loving  ver.  33. 
Simon  offended  that  a  word  addressed  to  tJie 
Jezvs  should  be  applied  to  his  brethren  and 
himself.''  Anyhow,  what  can  this  intimation  of 
sroiiior  somewhere  mean }     Where   can  He   g-o 


Il8  THE  TABLE-TALK. 

that  they  cannot  accompany  Him  ?  What 
new  move  is  contemplated  ?  They  had,  only  a 
few  days  ago,  followed  Him  from  the  farther 
side  of  Jordan,  although  knowing  the  perils 
which  beset  their  path  ;  and  they  are  as  ready 
to  retrace  their  steps,  to  follow  Him  anywhere 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba.  For  the  slow-hearted 
man  had  failed  to  penetrate  the  real  meaning  of 
the  announcement ;  and  thus  there  is  given  the 

Ver.  36.       hasty  reply,  "  Lord,  whither  goest  Thou  ? " 

Kind  yet  significant  is  the  answer  :  "  Whither 
I  go,  thou  canst  not  follow  Me  nozv ;   bnt  thou 

Ver.  36.  shalt  follow  Me  afterwards."  "  Not  noza,  only 
afterwards.     Why  not   now,  Lord  ?    I  will  lay 

Ver.  37.  down  my  life  for  Thy  sake."  Ah,  we  can 
imagine  the  gentle  light  in  "  the  quiet  eye  "  of 
the  Master  as,  bending  forward,  He  asks,  with 
a  pathos  whose  impression  will  never  fade  from 
the  soul  until  the  oneness  of  disciple  and 
Master  is  declared  on  the  Martyr's  cross, 
"  Wilt  thou  lay  down  thy  life  for  My  sake  ? 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  The  cock  shall  not 

Ver.  38.       crow,  till  thou  hast  denied  Me  thrice," 

O  Peter !  there  are  days  of  sorrow  between 
thee  and  the  hour  "  when  thou  shalt  stretch 
forth  thy  hands,  and    another  shall  gird  thee, 

Chap.xxi.i8.  and  carry  thee  whither  thou  wouldest  not." 
Later  in  this  evening,  a  shadow  will  again  flit 
across  the  countenance  of  the  Lord,  and  omin- 
ous words  concerning  the  Satan  who  desired  to 


THE  TABLE-TALK.  I  1  Q 

have  thee  and  the  little  flock,  that  he  might  sift 
you  as  wheat,  will  fall  from   His  lips.     Again, 
from  thee  shall  rise  the  bold  protestation,  to 
which   the   twice   repeated   warning  will   have 
given    increased    momentum,   that    though    all 
should  forsake  Him,  yet  not  thou.    O  Simon  the  LuUe  xxii. 
disciple  !  there  is  yet  a  great  gulph  between  thee 
and  Peter  the  Apostle.     Thou  hast  yet  to  learn 
the   lesson   which    poor   human    nature   learns 
only  through   sharp  discipline,  through   many 
thrusts  of  that  two-edged  sword,  experience — 
the  lesson  that  all  self-nourished  strength  is  only 
weakness.     Brave,  very  brave,  thou  art  ;  but  to 
the  eye  of  Him  with  whom  thou  hast  to  do, 
there  is  present  the  scene  in  the  High  Priest's 
palace :  already  He  hears  the  words  in  which 
thou  shalt  flaunt  thy  denial  of  Him.     Blessed 
be  His  name!    the  warning  precedes  the  fall ; 
and  more  than  the  warning,  the  intimation  of 
the  prayer  that  has  ascended  for  thee,    "  that 
thy  faith  fail  not :  and  that  when  thou  art  con-  Luke  xxii. 
verted,  thou  shalt   be  able  to  strengthen  thy  ^^' 
brethren."     The  remembrance  of  that  warning, 
the  virtue  of  that  intercession,  will  call  thee  back ; 
it  will  cause  the  bitter  tear,  "  the  godly  sorrow 
that  worketh  repentance."     And  Christ  will  not 
fail  thee  until  thy  thrice-told  denial  is  wiped 
away  by  His  thrice-asked  question,  "  Lovest  thou 
Me  ? "  and  His  thrice-given  charge,  "  Feed  My  chap.  xxi. 
sheep,  Feed  My  lambs."  ""^- 


I  20  THE  TABLE-TALK. 

The  discourse  begins.  ^  At  first' jt  is  inter- 
rupted by  questions  or  remarks  from  one  or 
another  of  the  disciples.  Gradually  they  cease 
from  asking  anything,  and  listen  in  silence  to 
Him  whose  life-giving  words  flow  over  their 
souls.  For  my  part,  I  thank  Thomas  and 
Philip  and  Judas  not  Iscariot.  Their  inter- 
ruptions serve  as  pauses  which  permit  us  to 
linger  over  things  too  deep  and  high  for  us. 
There  is  a  charm,  moreover,  in  this,  that,  by 
means  of  them,  the  utterance  of  the  Lord  is 
more  than  a  monologue.  It  is  a  communion — 
He  with  them  and  they  with  Him.  May  we 
not  change  the  pronouns]? — He  whh.'iis  and  we 
with  Him. 


X. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE   DISCOURSE. 

St.  John  xiv,  1-3. 

"  Let  not yoicr  heart  he  troubled ;  "  thus  begins  a  ver.  i 
discourse  which  extends  far  into  the  night. 
The  disciples,  we  suppose,  are  sad  and  silent. 
Simon  Peter,  from  eager  protestations  of  readi- 
ness to  suffer  and  die,  has  been  sent  back  into 
his  own  heart  to  commune  and  be  still.  And 
enough  has  been  said  and  done  to  excite  in 
every  mind  the  apprehension  of  impending 
sorrow — of  a  time,  not  far  distant,  when  those 
now  assembled  in  the  upper  room  shall  be  left 
as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  Hitherto  the 
utterance  of  Christ,  although  gentle  and  tender, 
has  been  authoritative  as  that  of  a  master  speak- 
ing to  his  scholars,  or  a  father  to  his  children ; 
now  all  relations  must  blend  in  the  one,  tJie 
Comforter.  Only  a  little  while  is  left  to  Him, 
and  that  little  while  must  be  devoted  to  the 
strengthening  of  His  own  against  the  trials  and 
sorrows  awaiting  them.  He  contemplates  the 
future  rather  than  the  present ;  in  advance  of 


I  2  2    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

the  dark  days  which  He  beholds  as  already- 
near  He  would  provide  them,  and  all  who  shall 
believe  in  Him  through  their  word,  with  "  a 
strong  consolation."  Very  artless,  very  human, 
are  the  sentences  through  which  His  comfort  is 
conveyed.  But  how  profound  the  truth  with 
which  they  are  charged !  "  Those  three  chapters 
which  M.  Renan  pronounces  to  be  full  of  '  the 
dryness  of  metaphysics  and  the  darkness  of 
abstract  dogmas,'  have  been,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
watered  by  the  tears  of  all  the  purest  love 
and  deepest  sorrow  of  Christian  humanity  for 
eighteen  centuries.  Never  is  the  New  Testa- 
ment more  able  to  dispense  with  external 
evidence  than  in  those  matchless  words  ;  no- 
Liddon's      where  more  than  here  is  it  sensibly  divine." 

Bampton 
Lectures,  p. 

*^''  The  demand  which  Christ  makes  is  an  illustra- 

tion of  the  simplicity  of  manner  and  fulness  of 
meaning  alluded  to.  When  all  that  lies  beyond 
the  hour  is  enwrapped  in  gloom,  and  the  feeling 
of  uncertainty  is  predominant,  what  more  natural 
than  to  insist  that  there  must  be  one  fixed 
point,  and  that  fixed  point  a  loyal  trust  in 
Jesus  Himself.^  It  had  been  His  way,  in  past 
times,  to  make  this  the  condition  of  the  blessing 
which  it  was  in  His  heart  to  give.  Now,  more 
than  ever,  is  it  called  for.  The  spiritual  susten- 
ance of  His  followers,  in  the  circumstances 
through  which  they  must  pass,  is  wholly  depend- 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I  23 

ent  on  the  relation  of  their  hearts  to  Him. 
They  must  confide  in  Him  absolutely  and  with 
unfaltering  devotion,  in  spite  of  appearances 
and  of  all  kinds  of  hostile  influences ;  they 
must  rely  on  Him  as  the  One  who  has  access 
to  the  hidden  realms,  and  who  only  knows  the 
Father,  to  whom  the  future  is  naked  and  opened, 
and  who,  having  all  things  in  His  hands,  will 
never  fail  and  never  forsake.  Therefore  the 
charge,  so  sweetly  peremptory,  "  Ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  MeT  Ver.  i. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  we  should  regard  the 
two  believes  in  this  charge  as  both  indicatives, 
or,  as  in  the  authorised  version,  the  one  indicative 
and  the  other  imperative,  or  as  both  imperatives. 
The  last  of  these  views  commends  itself  to  me. 
The  disciples  needed  the  one  believing  as  well 
as  the  other ;  they  had  yet  to  realise  what  is 
involved  in  a  true  faith  in  God.  But,  however 
we  take  the  verbs,  the  essential  matter  set  forth 
is  that  Christ  claims  a  confidence,  not  only  like 
to,  but  simultaneous  with,  confidence  in  the  living 
God.  How  terrible  the  blasphemy  of  such  a 
claim  if  made  by  a  mere  creature  of  the  Eternal! 
How  distinct  the  witness  which  it  gives  that  He 
who  spoke  the  word  deemed  it  no  self-enrich- 
ment to  claim  equality  with  God!  For  we  must 
keep  the  also  where  and  as  the  Lord  placed  it. 
The  latter  believe  implies  the  same  conditions 
as  the  former;  it  cannot  mean  a  less  and  lower 


124    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

faith  than  the  former.  The  commandment  is, 
to  trust  God  for  being  that  Father  whom  the 
Son  has  declared,  and  also  to  trust  Him  for 
being  the  Son  to  whom  God  has  testified — to 
trust  Him  as  God  alone  is  to  be  trusted,  and  as, 
indeed,  the  Lord  and  God  of  the  human  heart. 

Is  not  Christendom  built  on  the  also  of  Christ's 
supper  table }  Luther  has  remarked  that  in  this 
fourteenth  chapter  "  we  have  the  great  articles 
of  Christian  doctrine  in  most  impressive  exhibi- 
tion, and  fundamentally  established  as  in  hardly- 
Quoted  by    another  place  of  Scripture."     This  is  true.     Let 

Stier,  vol.  6,      ,  ^ 

P- 183.  the  reader  observe,  for  instance,  the  unfolding 
of  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  But  the 
first  verse  is  especially  significant.  Sometimes 
we  turn  with  a  sigh  from  the  elaborate  confes- 
sions of  later  ages  to  the  confession  summed  up 
in  the  short  saying  of  the  Lord.  Less  than  this 
there  may  not  be,  more  than  this  there  need  not  be, 
in  the  faith  of  a  Christian.  The  also  must  stand 
out  in  bold  relief,  rightly  apprehended  and  firmly 
grasped ;  but  when  it  is  so  grasped  the  mind 
holds  the  essential  Christian  verity.  Is  it  not  this 
also  which  we  have  in  view  in  all  mission-labour } 
"  Why  think  of  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,"  said 
a  friend  lately  to  one  who  had  appealed  to  his 
interest ;  "the  Jews  believe  as  well  as  ourselves 
in  God,  and  is  not  that  enough } "  Clearly  it 
was  not  enough,  else  Christ  would  not  have 
come  into  the  world    and    suffered    and   died. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I  25 

Clearly  it  was  not  enough,  else  Christ  would 
not  have  spoken  His  also.  To  publish  it,  and 
all  that  it  implies,  is  the  duty  which  He  lays  on 
His  Church,  as  being  necessary  to  the  salvation 
of  the  world,  to  the  possession  of  the  life  eternal. 
It  is  the  plus  in  respect  of  which  the  faith  of  the 
Christian  Church  is  apart  from  and  more  than 
every  mere  theistic  religion — a  phis  that  is  not 
an  addition  only,  but  a  new  faith.  For  the 
trust  in  God,  which  is  also  with  trust  in  Christ, 
is  not  the  same  as  the  trust  which  is  without ; 
it  is  an  incalculable  difference  that  is  realised 
when  we  say,  "  Blessed  be  God,  even  the  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  2  Cor.  i.  3. 

This,  then,  is  the  mainstay  of  the  comfort 
which  the  Lord  would  give.  Before  He  opens 
up  its  wealth,  He  asks  from  His  disciples, 
"Believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me." 

But  He  is  going  away  into  some  unseen  state 
or  world.  What  can  His  little  children  hence- 
forth have  in  common  with  Him  }  They  will 
not  even  know  whither  He  has  vanished.  And 
wherever  His  abode  may  be,  will  He  not  be 
separated  from  them  }  What  can  they  rest  on  1 
What  is  there  longer  to  cling  to  .''  Trust  Him  } 
But  where  will  He  be  ?  What  relations  will  He 
hold  to  them  ,-'  What  is  the  hope  of  any  reunion 
with  Him .?  of  any  recovery  of  that  fellowship 
so  soon  to  be  broken  ?     These  are  the  thoughts 


I  26    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

which  have  arisen  in  their  minds ;  and  He 
answers  them  in  speech  pre-eminently  cheering, 
adapted  to  their  capacity,  but  partly  revealing, 
and  partly  concealing,  truths  and  hopes  in 
which  troubled  hearts  of  all  times  should  find 

Isaiah  xxxii.  "  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land.** 
Let  us  endeavour  to  gather  up  some  crumbs  of 
the  "feast  spread  in  the  words — How  sweet  is 
their  rhythm  ! 

"  In  My  Father's  house  are  many  mansions : 
if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  yon,  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you.  A  nd  if  I  go  and  prepare 
a  place  for  yon,  I  tvill  come  again,  and  i^eceive  you 
7into  Myself ;  that  ivJieve  I  am,  there  ye  may  be 

Vers.  2, 3.     also. 

So  familiar,  be  it  observed,  is  the  circle  of 
ideas  presented.  A  Father's  house — home  with 
its  solid  and  enduring  bliss,  its  refreshments  and 
solaces,  its  duties  and  enjoyments,  its  sober 
liberty  and  beauteous  order.  The  assurance  of 
Him  who,  as  the  Son  of  the  Father,  abides  in 

John  vi;;.  35.  that  house  for  ever  is  that  He  will  secure  for  all 
His  little  children  a  right  to  the  good  fore- 
shadowed. That  to  which  He  points  them  is 
not  a  mere  guest-chamber  like  the  one  in  which 
they  are  then  assembled.  It  is  a  spacious  palace 
with  many  mansions,  with  room  for  them  all, 
and  abundance  of  light  and  peace ;  and  in  due 
time  He  pledges  them  that  He  will  return  to 
reconstitute  the  broken  fellowship  and  reunite 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I  27 

the  scattered  family.  How  partially  they  to 
whom  He  spoke  entered  into  His  mind  in  thus 
speaking,  the  interruptions  which  follow  prove ; 
but  the  testimony  was  given  in  expectation  of 
the  day  when  the  spirit  of  truth  should  bring  all 
things  to  remembrance,  and  open  up  their  hidden 
meanings,  To  us,  my  readers,  on  whom  the 
mystery  of  the  future  and  the  unseen  presses, 
how  precious  the  glimpses  which  are  furnished 
of  "  that  sweet  and  blessed  country  which  eager 
hearts  expect !  " 

May  we  not,  from  Christ's  word,  infer  that 
tJie  visible  and  the  invisible  alike  are  in  His 
Fathers  ho2ise  ?  We  distinguish  between  things 
seen  and  things  unseen  as  if  they  belonged  to 
opposite  realms.  But  there  is  no  such  distinc- 
tion in  the  mind  of  God.  He  is  equally  in  all 
realms.  We  do  read  of  a  "heaven  of  heavens."  i  Kings  vUi. 
Jewish  Rabbis  spoke  of  seven  heavens  ;  but  all  ^^' 
such  classifications  and  divisions  are  only  im- 
perfect signs  of  fellowships  more  or  less  intimate 
between  the  spirit  purified  by  love  and  Him  who 
is  love.  In  respect  of  this  science,  in  its  progres- 
sive discoveries,  is  the  minister  of  faith,  because 
it  is  ever  completing  the  evidence  of  the  unity 
of  all  worlds.  The  same  great  laws,  we  know, 
universally  operate,  the  same  forces  act ;  all 
planets,  bodies,  beings,  things,  are  bound  together 
in  mutual  and  reciprocal  influence.    All  are  only 


128     THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

different  portions  of  the  one  Father's  house. 
Solemn  and  sweet  to  reflect  that,  go  where  we 
may,  we  never 'can  go  from  Him,  that  one  place 
is  as  much  God's  as  another's.  "  Everything,"  as 
John  Sterling  writes,  "  is  so  wonderful,  great,  and 
holy,  so  sad  and  yet  not  bitter,  so  full  of  death 
cariyie-s  aud  SO  bordcring  on  heaven."  Solemn  and  sweet 
ling!"  p'-lS'  also  to  reflect  that,  whatever  death  may  be,  God 
is  more  than  death  ;  and  whithersoever  the  soul 
may  be  bound,  it  can  only  pass  into  some  other 
room  in  the  house.  "  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven. 
Thou  art  there  ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  sheol, 
behold,  Thou  art  there.  .  .  .  The  darkness 
hideth  not  from  Thee ;  but  the  night  shineth 
as  the  day :  the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both 
Ps.  cxxxix.    alike  to  Thee." 

What  is  the  comfort  which  the  Lord  offers  to 
the  children  of  the  house  .?  Standing  beside  us 
on  the  earth,  and  speaking  of  that  upper  king- 
dom into  which  He  is  about  to  pass,  He  puts 
this  thread  into  our  hands :  "  You  know  one 
thing  ;  you  know  My  Father.  You  have  seen 
what  He  is  to  Me ;  you  have  felt  what,  in  Me, 
He  is  to  you.  When  you  are  sure  of  Him,  for 
all  that  is  beyond  you  have  nothing  to  fear. 
He  will  be  the  same  to  you  tJiere  as  He  has  been 
in  your  sight  here ;  the  same  love  and  gentle- 
ness and  wisdom  in  which  I  have  lived  penetrate 
every  mansion."  When  I  hold  this  thread, 
and,  holding  it,  read  between  the  lines  of  Jesus' 


8-12 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I  29 

word,  a  certain  home-likeness  and  homeliness 
invest  the  thought  of  the  life  that  shall  be.  For 
it  occurs  to  me  to  argue  thus.  Sometimes  a 
person  has  many  mansions.  When  I  am  familiar 
with  one  of  them — with  what  is  characteristic  in 
it  of  taste,  genius,  and  position — I  form  an  idea 
concerning  the  others.  I  say  to  myself  that 
what  I  have  found  in  the  one  I  know  will  be 
evidenced  in  them  likewise.  Thus,  with  regard  to 
the  unseen  and  the  seen,  Christ  who  came  from 
the  one  saw  everywhere  its  likenesses  and  coun- 
terparts in  the  other.  And  shall  not  we,  going 
from  this  world,  find  the  unseen  wondrously 
like  to  all  that  spoke  to  us  of  our  Father  here  ? 
It  will  be  no  strange  land  ;  it  will  be  the  reality 
of  which  this  present  is  the  shadow — the  light 
seen  in  the  very  light  of  God.  Anyhow,  "  there 
or  here,"  whispers  our  guide,  "  it  is  equally  My 
Father's  house.  In  all  possible  states  and  condi- 
tions that  house  encompasses  you,  with  its  revela- 
tions of  unspeakable  love  and  tenderness.  And 
for  all  there  is  a  welcome,  since  in  it  there  are 
many  mansions." 

Do  we  not,  in  Christ's  word,  perceive  that  He 
has  a  work  zviiJi  reference  to  His  oivn  in  both  the 
zvorlds  seen  and  unseen  ?  "  I  go,"  He  says,  "  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you." 

The  sentence  rises  to  the  heart  when  we 
meditate  on  the  dread  fact  of  death.  There  is 
I 


130    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

a  temperament  which  the  petulant,  passionate 

cry  of  Job  interprets,  "I  would  not  live  alway: 

Job  vu.  IS,    my  soul  chooseth  death  rather  than  my  life." 
16.  ,  •' 

But    this    temperament    is    morbid.     A    mind 

healthy  in  its  action  is  free  from  it.  No  doubt, 
there  is  an  approach  to  it  often  to  be  traced  in 
nobler  souls.  Wearied  by  conflict  with  incerti- 
tudes, or  by  the  continual  fight  with  sin,  or  by 
the  experience  of  their  own  ideals  remaining 
mere  broken  fragments,  not  seldom  do  we 
find  men  craving  release  from  the  burden  of 
the  flesh,  so  that  either  the  wished  for  light  and 
truth  may  be  enjoyed,  or  the  everlasting  silence 
entered.  But,  speaking  generally,  there  is  a 
deep,  desperate  grudge  between  death  and  life. 
To  die,  when  one  feels  the  bound  of  strength,  the 
thrill  of  love  !  To  see  the  countenance  changing, 
and  know,  as  we  see  it,  that  a  presence  is  being 
sent  away  ;  that  we  may  long  for  the  "  sound  of 
a  voice  that  is  still,"  but  the  longing  can  never 
be  answered — man  does  ask,  man  has  ever 
asked,  "  Can  this  cruel  captivity  be  carried 
captive  .''  "  What  we  want  is  not  to  lose  being, 
but  to  have  more  being ;  to  have  better  instru- 
ments with  which  to  mine  in  the  depths  of  truth, 
or,  at  least,  the  power  of  more  nobly  using  the 
instruments  we  have  ;  to  be  able  to  carry  out 
all  the  thought,  the  desire,  the  aim  of  the  spirit 
at  the  moments  of  its  highest  inspiration — not, 
as    now,    ever    beaten    back    and    bafilcd    and 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I3I 

worsted  ;  to  be  purer,  truer,  wiser,  more  blessed  ; 
to  "  know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  know- 
ledge, and  be  filled  according  to  all  the  fulness  of 
God."  Does  not  Jesus  interpret  this  want  when  Ephes.iii.19. 
He  bids  us  think  of  Him  as  the  Forerunner  who 
for  us  "  has  entered  within  the  veil  ?  "  when  He  Heb.  vi.  20. 
says,  I  am  going  to  fulfil  that  desire,  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you — 

"  Where  faith  is  lost  in  sight, 
And  patient  hope  is  crowned. 
And  everlasting  light 

Its  glory  throws  around." 

A  place  made  ready  by  Him !  "  It  was 
reserved  for  Christ,"  remarks  a  commentator, 
"  to  throw  heaven  open,  in  the  first  instance,  by 
His  zvord'xw  the  farewell  discourses, and, secondly, 
by  His  act  in  the  ascension  itself."  T\iQ  going,  Langeon  st 
"  the  being  taken  up  into  heaven,"  was,  in  a  real  "^°''"' '''  ''^'^' 
sense,  the  opening  of  heaven  to  us.  How,  what 
the  effect  of,  this  entrance  of  the  glorified  body  of 
the  Lord  into  the  Heavenlies  we  need  not  farther 
inquire.  Nor  need  we  enter  at  length  on  the  ques- 
tion what  the  preparation  of  the  place  includes. 
Peter  and  John,  listening  to  their  Master,  could 
recall  that  they  had  been  sent  in  advance  of  the 
rest  to  prepare  the  room  and  the  Passover. 
They  must  have  understood — and  this  is  suffi- 
cient for  us — that  the  Lord's  making  ready  for 
His  own  covers  all  that  is  needful,  whether  in  the 
heavenlies  or  in  them,  for  the  enjoyment  of  the 


132    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

glorious  things  which  the  Father  had  prepared 
for  Him  and  His.  It  comprehends  the  whole 
preparatory  discipline  of  earth,  the  indwelling 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  "  making  meet  for  the 
inheritance;"  although  the  specific  thought  in 
His  utterance  is  confined  to  that  which  is  to  be 
done  in  the  state  whither  He  goes.  The  place, 
let  us  assure  ourselves,  is  there — the  mansion 
for  each  of  the  trusting  followers  ;  each  his  own 
place,  his  own  crown,  his  own  sphere,  his  own 
knowledge  of  the  Lord.  As  manifold  as  the 
character,  experiences,  aptitudes,  of  the  blessed 
are  the  mansions  which  Christ  ensures  shall 
exactly  correspond  to  the  persons  and  the  per- 
sons to  them.  For  each  there  shall  be  the 
perfected  participation  in  the  joy  of  the  Lord  ; 
rest  from  labour,  yet  rest  in  service;  freedom 
to  be  and  to  do  all  which  perfect  sympathy  with 
the  thought  and  will  of  the  Eternal  Love  shall 
prompt ;  increasing  desire,  but  no  pain  in  the 
desire  ;  running,  but  no  weariness  ;  walking,  but 
no  faintness.  "There  is  a  place  by  Me,"  said 
Jehovah  to  Moses,  "and  thou  shalt  stand  upon- 
a  rock  :  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  while  My 
glory  passeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  in  a  clift 
Exodus  of  the  rock."  What  says  Jehovah-Jesus  to  His 
own.''  "A  place  by  Me — I  take  you  to  it,  that 
there,  not  as  a  mere  passing  sight  but  an  abiding 
vision,  you  may  behold  My  glory."  He  would 
not  entrust  its  preparation  to  other  hands :  "  / 


xxxiu.  21,22. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I  33 

go  to  prepare ;  /  come  to  receive  you  to  My- 
self." 

Does  not  the  word  of  Christ  shed  some  light 
on  the  question  as  to  the  continnance  of  relation- 
ships and  intimacies  betzveen  the  dead  and  the 
living?  Is  death  the  end  of  those  connec- 
tions in  which  life  is  linked  to  life  ?  The 
African  savage  has  his  dead  laid  near  his 
dwelling.  In  so  doing,  he  darkly  feels  "  They 
are  not  lost."  Through  all  sorts  of  vagaries 
and  superstitions  we  can  trace  the  idea  that  the 
world  into  which  the  departed  enter  is  around 
us,  and  that  between  ours  and  it  the  communica- 
tion is  unceasing.  When  we  commit  the  remains 
of  the  beloved  to  the  dust,  and  turn  from  the 
hallowed  spot,  feeling  that  "  there  hath  passed 
away  a  glory  from  the  earth,"  does  there  not 
rise  from  the  inmost  self  the  protest,  It  is  not, 
it  cannot  be  all  over  between  us ;  the  love  that 
united  us  is  too  precious  to  be  lost  .-*  And 
docs  there  not  rise  towards  '*  the  sightless  range  " 
which  holds  the  vanished  a  breathing  such  as 
that  which  the  poet  has  interpreted  in  his  verse  .'* 

"  Descend,  and  touch  and  enter  ;  hear 

The  wish  too  strong  for  words  to  name  ; 
That  in  this  bhndness  of  the  frame 
My  ghost  may  feel  that  Thine  is  near."  in  Memori- 

am,  92. 

Ah,  we  wonder  and  question  !  Sometimes  we 
think  it  strange  that  He  who  has  "  the  keys  of 


I  34    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

Hades  and  death  "  should  never  have  opened 
the  hidden  regions  to  our  sight,  should  never 
have  given  us  more  than    the   hints  that  are 
furnished   by    His    last   discourse   and    prayer. 
The    gates    are    but    a    little    way    unlocked  ; 
and,  as  Bunyan  says  when  his  wonderful  dream 
had  reached  its  consummation,  "  the  gates  are 
quickly  shut  up  again,"  and  we  are  left  only  to 
wish  ourselves  among  the  blest.   But  is  there  not 
wisdom  in  this  reticence  ?    Otherwise  might  not 
the  strength  of  our  interest  be  diverted  from 
that  which  is  its  true  course,  fellowship  with  the 
Eternal  and  Holy  One,  to  the  comparatively  pro- 
fitless course  of  "seeking,  the  living  to  the  dead  ?" 
But  here  is  a  fact  full  of  meaning.     There  is  no 
break  in  the  relation  between  Christ  and  His  own. 
He  had  never  deceived  them.  He  had  announced 
to  them  beforehand  what  would  happen.     He 
had  been  perfectly  honest  and  candid  with  them. 
And  He  would  have  given  them  notice  that  the 
hour  which  removed   Him  from  their  sight  was 
the  conclusion  of  their  intercourse,  if  that  had 
been  possible.     It  was    impossible.     The  con- 
solation mainly  depends  on  the  pledged  continu- 
ance of  Jesus  with  them,  nay,  on  the  assurance 
that,   through   His   departure.   His   union  with 
them  would   pass   into   a   higher   form,    would 
become  more  real  and  intimate  than  ever.    Now, 
my  belief  is  that  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is,  in 
all  belonging  to  it,  exemplary.     He  was  "  the 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     135 

first  begotten  of  the  dead,"  "the  first  fruits  of  Rev  :  , 
them  that  slept."  If  death  could  not  alter  the  .co.xv. 
realities  of  His  communion  with  men,  if  it  only 
made  that  communion  more  blessed  and  close, 
may  we  not  conceive  that  so  it  is  with  ours  and 
us  ?  Was  He  lost  when  He  passed  out  of  sight .? 
Why  shall  we  think  that  t/iej  are  lost  when^our 
eyes  no  longer  behold  them  ?  Did  He  cease  to 
care  for  His  flock  when  He  went  to  the  Father  ? 
Why  shall  we  think  that  t/iej^  have  ceased  to 
care  for  us .?  Were  there  no  ways  of  speech 
from  Him  to  those  who  waited  for  His  word 
after  He  had  gone  .?  Why  shall  we  think  that 
there  can  be  no  speaking  from  "the  quiet  shore," 
spirit  to  spirit .?  I,  for  one,  cannot  believe  that 
there  is  a  great,  bridgeless,  gulph  between  the 
hving  and  the  dead.  We  are,  they  are;  they 
m  mansions  we  cannot  discern,  but  the  mansions 
are  all  in  our  Father's  house ;  and  the  heavens 
are  open,  and  God  and  His  holy  ones  are  con- 
tinually ascending  and  descending  on  the  Son 
of  Man. 

John  i.  51. 

Is  not  Christ's  word  the  token  t/iat  in  both  the 
seen  and  the  nnseen  worlds  the  life  and  joy  of  the 
spiritual  being  are  the  same?  The  house  is 
blessed  because  it  is  His  Father's;  it  is  the 
vision  of  the  Father,  the  satisfaction  with  His  like- 
ness, which  suffices  for  the  archangel  that  never 
sinned  as  for  the  sinner  who  has  been  snatched 


136    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

like  a  brand  from  the  burning.  And  the  home- 
coming, how  is  it  ?     "  /  zvill  come  and  receive  yoit 

ver.  3.         to  Myself,  that  wJiere  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also!' 

When  Martha  met  Jesus  on  His  way  to  the 

house  of  death  she  had  faith  enough  to  say,  "  I 

know  that  my  brother  will   rise   again   in   the 

Chap.  xi.  24.  resurrection  at  the  last  day."  Her  verb  was  in 
the  future  tense ;  and  future  is  too  often  the 
tense  of  Christians  when  they  think  of  the 
resurrection.  Christ's  tense  is  the  present :  "  I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life :  he  that  liveth 

Chap.  xi.  25.  and  believeth  in  Me  shall  never  die!'  He  has 
already  risen.  This  is  the  victory  over  death ; 
to  be  now  in  conscious  possession  of  a  life  over 
which  death  has  no  dominion  ;  to  have  interests 
and  associations  which  join  us  to  what  is  death- 
less, because  it  is  divine  ;  to  have  the  existence 
wedded  to  that  Christ  on  whom  the  spiritual 
eye  is  gazing,  and  receiving  power  to  become 
the  son  of  God ;  to  know  that  we  are  partakers 
of  the  eternal  life,  and  that  nothing  can  "  sepa- 
rate from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Jesus 

Rom.  viii.  39.  UiiriSt. 

Therefore,  in  the  word  of  comfort,  Jesus  de- 
scribes the  blessedness  of  the  unseen  future  as 
being  that — nothing  else,  and  nothing  less — 
which  had  measured  the  blessedness  of  His  dis- 
ciples during  the  time  of  their  intercourse  — 
**  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also!'  This,  at 
least,  was  a  teaching  which  they  could  grasp,  a 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE.     I  37 

promise  on  which  they  could  feed.  And  He  sur- 
rounds the  promise  with  an  inviolable  yea  and 
amen,  when  He  solemnly  protests  that  He  will 
come  again  and  receive  them  :  that  His  going 
is  for  their  gain,  and  if  He  goes  assuredly  He 
will  return.  At  the  resurrection,  they  obtained 
the  first  instalment  of  the  coming ;  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  they  were  still  farther  enriched  ;  in 
the  quickened  spiritual  life  of  faith,  the  believer 
realises  that  his  Lord  has  come  :  the  article  of 
death  is  the  taking  of  the  redeemed  away  to 
the  rest  in  God ;  the  appearing  in  glory  is  the 
completion  and  fulfilment  of  the  coming.  Then 
shall  the  family  be  gathered  together  "  from  the 
four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  Matt.  xxW. 
other,"  and  so  shall  they  be  for  ever  with  the  ^'' 
Lord  in  the  perfect  light  of  His  Father's 
house. 

Be  still,  then,  O  troubled  heart.  Have  faith 
in  God  ;  have  faith  also  in  Jesus  Christ,  whom 
He  has  sent.  Trust  Him  for  the  future.  Trust 
Him  in  the  present.  Trust  Him  with  thyself. 
"  Go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be."  Only  be  Daniel  xii. 
sure  that  thine  eyes  are  ever  towards  the  Lord,  '^' 
approaching  as  thou  dost  gaze,  transfigured  as 
thou  dost  approach — resemblance  becoming 
ever  more  deep  and  heavenly  as  thou  passest 
into  the  sunlight  of  the  glory.  What  the  glory 
is,  who  can  say  ?  *'  Lord,  I  know  but  faintly  what 
it  shall  be,  and  I  ask  not  to  know.    Only  assure 


138    THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

me  that  Thou  wilt  be  there.  I  have  long  been 
accustomed  to  gather  my  every  conception  of 
happiness  around  Thy  name ;  Thou  art  to  me 
the  abstract  and  representative  of  it  all.  Be 
but  Thyself  there  :    I  know    my  only  heaven 

Butler's  Ser-  in  Thce." 

monSjSecond 

series,  p.  45. 


XL 

AN   INTERRUPTION. 
St  John  xiv.  4-7. 

To  the  blessed  promise  of  the  Father's  house, 
and  the  preparation  of  the  place,  and  the  com- 
ing again  to  receive  His  own  to  Himself,  the 
Lord  added  the  sentence,  "  zvhither  I  go,  ye 
kiiozv  the  way!'  It  would  seem  that  the  sen- Chap.  xiv.  4, 
tence  perplexed  the  minds  of  those  who  heard  Version. 
it.  They  could  not  apprehend  its  meaning. 
Had  not  Simon  Peter,  only  a  short  time  be- 
fore, asked  for  some  information  as  to  the  scene 
to  which  their  Master  proposed  to  withdraw  } 
And,  although  they  had  been  told  of  many 
abiding  places  in  a  Father's  house,  they  had  not 
yet  ascertained  where  that  house  was.  They 
still  thought  only  of  some  other  locality  to  which 
Jesus  would  convey  Himself,  for  they  were 
very  foolish,  and  slow  of  heart.  It  is  too  much 
to  be  addressed  as  if  they  were  acquainted  with 
the  path  which  their  Master  was  about  to  take. 
Simon  has  no  heart  to  speak;  but  Thomas, 
called  the  Twin,  interprets  the  feeling  of  his  com- 
panions in  the  interruption.     "  Stay,  Lord  :  tve 


140  AN  INTERRUPTION. 

know  not  whither  TJiou  goest;  and  how  can  we 

Ver.  s.         knoiu  the  zvay  t " 

It  is  Thomas  who  says  this.  There  are  only 
three  occasions  on  which  the  name  of  this 
apostle  occurs  with  special  prominence.  The 
first  was  in  connection  with  the  proposed  return 
of  Jesus  to  Judea,  when  the  message  as  to 
Lazarus  reached  Him.  The  disciples  remon- 
strated on  the  dangers  of  such  a  return :  when 
remonstrances  proved  unavailing,  Thomas  ex- 
claimed, "  Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die  with 

Chap.  xi.  Him,"  He  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  issue 
of  the  journey  must  be  fatal,  but  he  was  ready 
to  share  the  consequences.  The  last  of  the 
three  times  was  when,  after  the  resurrection,  re- 
fusing to  believe  the  tale  told  by  his  brethren,  he 
was  addressed  by  the  risen  Saviour  in  terms  of 
distinct,  although  gentle,  rebuke  ;  and  from 
his  heart  of  hearts  was  elicited  the  expression 

chap.xx. 24- of  unbounded  self-surrendering  faith.      At  the 
29.  ,  '-' 

supper  table,  we  find  him,  abruptly,  yet  with  in- 
genuous frankness,  proclaiming  the   ignorance 
which  he  and  those  around  him  felt.    Gathering 
>  up  the  conjunct  testimony  of  these  glimpses, 

the  impression  which  we  form  of  him  is,  that  he 
was  a  man  slow  in  apprehension,  wanting  in  ima- 
gination and  in  the  faculty  of  intuitively  discern- 
ing a  truth, — one  who  worked  heavily  towards  a 
conclusion.  But  the  conclusion  once  got,  it  is 
grasped,  and  it  is  held  with   invincible    tena- 


AN  INTERRUPTION.  I4I 

city.  There  is  a  capacity  of  indefinite  sacrifice 
when  the  assent  of  the  mind  is  once  obtained, 
but  tlie  reflective  so  largely  preponderates  over 
the  impulsive,  that  enthusiasm  comes  somewhat 
late  in  the  day.  He  has  been  named  the 
"  Rationalist  of  the  Apostles ; "  may  every 
rationalist  be  as  candid  in  the  investigation  of 
truth  as  he  was,  as  wishful  to  see,  as  earnest  in 
welcoming  the  light  when  it  would  enter  the 
soul,  as  pure  and  unfaltering  in  the  conse- 
cration of  all  energies  to  Him  whom  reason 
and  affection  embrace,  uniting  in  the  answer, 
"  My  Lord  and  my  God."  Chap.  xx.  28 

His  protestation — "  Thy  whither  and  TJiy  how, 
what  of  them .''" — Christ  meets  with  a  word  which 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  reply  to  it.  In  point  of 
fact  it  is  ;  because,  for  the  man  Christ  Jesus  as 
for  us,  the  way  to  the  Father  is  the  will  which 
was  glorified  in  the  Son.  The  sonship  in  Christ 
is  the  only  path  to  the  Father.  But,  as  is  the 
manner  of  the  Lord,  He  takes  the  mind  beyond 
the  immediate  question  raised.  The  interrup- 
tion of  the  discourse  carries  it  on  to  a  still 
farther  point,  but  always  in  harmony  with  the 
note  which  had  been  struck,  "  Believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  Me."  The  attention  is  at  once 
withdrawn  from  the  %vJiitlier ;  the  reminder  is 
given  that  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  zvay  ;  and 
forth  comes  the  manifesto  of  our  King — 

"  /  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life :  no 
man  cometh  nnto  the  Father  but  by  Me^  '^'^'■- 


142  AN  INTERRUPTION. 

To  recur  to  a  topic  in  the  previous  chapter  of 
this  volume,  I  always  associate  this  manifesto 
with  the  utterance  of  the  Lord  to  Martha,  when 
she  met  Him  after  the  death  of  Lazarus.  There 
are  some  striking  points  of  resemblance.  In  the 
sister's  mind  the  thought  of  resurrection  was  dis- 
sociated from  the  person  of  Christ.  She  con- 
ceived of  it  simply  as  the  result  of  the  mighty 
power  of  God  to  be  fulfilled  at  the  last  day.  It 
was  a  distant  prospect.  It  was  something  quite 
apart  from  any  conception  of  spiritual  life.  The 
aim  of  Christ  was  to  raise  her  faith  from  the  level 
thus  described ;  to  bring  her  to  realise  that  resur- 
rection is  a  present  fact,  and  that  the  continuance 
of  personal  being  is  certain  for  all  who  live  and 
believe  in  Him  because  of  the  life  that  is  in 
Himself.  '' I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  .  .  . 
chrp  xi.  21-  Believest  thou  this .'' "  Now,  similarly,  these  slow- 
hearted  disciples  conceived  of  the  place  and  the 
path  at  which  the  Master  had  hinted,  as  wholly 
external  to  Him.  They  were  mentally  debating 
how  He  would  reach  it,  what  route  He  would 
take,  and  what  kind  of  home  it  would  be.  From 
all  such  wanderings  He  brings  them  back  to 
His  initial  demand,  "faith  in  me."  He  tells 
them  that  it  is  to  Himself  they  must  look  ;  that 
He  is  not  speaking  of  things  vague  and  future ; 
that  they  will  know  what  they  crave  only  by 
letting  Him  unfold  the  secret  of  His  presence 
and  love.     From  discussion  of  goals  and  ways, 


20. 


AN  INTERRUPTION.  1 43 

of  ends  and  means,  He  sets  them  right  before 
— Himself  "  I  am — not  I  show  the  way,  or  I 
speak  the  truth,  or  I  reveal  the  life — but,  /  am 
the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life." 

My  readers,  shall  we  not  pause  over  this  say- 
ing, so  regal  and  yet  so  gracious  .''  Shall  we  not, 
for  an  instant  or  two,  detain  every  portion  of  it, 
that  we  may  realise  the  feast  of  fat  things 
which  it  spreads  for  us  .'' 

We  must  not  separate,  and  yet  we  must 
not  depress,  any  of  the  three  affirmations  to 
which  the  "  I  am  "  is  prefixed.  They  have  been 
thus  paraphrased,  "The  true  way  of  life."  But 
this  is  to  weaken  the  force  of  the  saying,  inas- 
much as  it  loses  the  distinction  intimated  by 
the  connecting  a)ids.  No;  He  is  the  tnitJi ;  the 
absolute  reality,  underlying  and  expressing  itself 
through  all  appearances ;  who  is  the  substance 
of  all  that  is  good  and  lovely  ;  the  Word  in 
whom  all  the  thought  of  God  is  articulated  to 
man,  and  all  the  right  thought  of  man  is  articu- 
lated to  God  ;  the  Sun,  rays  of  whose  light  pene- 
trate all  the  universe  of  God,  whatsoever  is  true 
anywhere  being  the  reflection  of  His  infinite 
fulness.  He  is  tJie  life ;  the  source  and  seat  of 
all  life  in  man,  creature,  thing ;  the  sum  of  all 
that  is  created  ;  of  whom,  in  our  being,  we  have 
received,  and  by  whom  alone  we  are  enabled 
in  spirit  and  soul  and  body  to  realise  continuous 
existence  ;  who  is  more  especially  the  cause  and 


144  AN  INTERRUPTION. 

the  sustenance  of  that  higher  life  which  is  death- 
less, because  it  is  the  eternal  life  of  God  in  man. 
Therefore  He  is  the  way ;  the  only  medium 
between  the  worlds  seen  and  unseen,  between 
the  Father  of  Spirits  and  the  spirits  of  men. 
Not  as  if  He  were  apart  from  the  Father  and 
the  Father  from  Him  ;  for  not  only  is  He  as  the 
Father,  but  the  Father  is  in  Him.  His  humanity 
is  the  Shekinah  of  an  indwelling  God,  and  to 
have  fellowship  with  Him  is  to  have  fellowship 
with  the  Eternal  Himself  But  the  high  priest- 
hood of  men,  which  is  in  the  very  idea  of  "  The 

Chap.  i.  I.  Word  who  was  with  God  and  was  God,"  has  been 
substantiated  for  us  sinners  in  the  incarnation, 
and  the  crucifixion  to  Avhich,  in  His  last  supper, 
Jesus  looks  forward.  Through  death  He  passes 
into  the  presence  of  God — the  Man  with  an  un- 
changeable priesthood.  As  the  God-man  pre- 
senting the  accepted  sacrifice,  "  He  is  able  also 
to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto 

Heb.  vii.  »s.  God  by  Him."  Nor  let  us  limit  the  thought. 
To  say  that  all  coming  to  God  the  Father  is 
through  the  Son  who  dwelt  among  us,  is  not  to 
say  that  only  they  have  access  who  know  and 
are  in  conscious  sympathy  with  Jesus  Christ. 
To  reject  Christ  when  declared  is  one  thing,  not 
to  know  Christ  because  He  has  not  been  declared 
is  another  thing.  Is  not  the  assurance  implied 
in  the  word  of  the  Lord  i* — "  Wherever  anyone 
is  in  the  way  to  the  Father  I  am  that  way. 
Wherever  anyone  finds  truth,  that  truth  is  some- 


AN  INTERRUPTION.  145 

thing  of  Mine  and  testifies  of  Me.  For  I  am 
ever  from  age  to  age  the  life  and  the  light  of 
men.  Every  way  not  absolutely  false  leads  to 
the  truth  ;  every  real  truth  has  life  in  itself,  but 
all  in  Christ."  stier,  vol.  vi. 

Ah,  it  is  a  gloriously  comprehensive,  whilst 
yet  it  is  a  jealously  exclusive,  manifesto.  On 
the  pulpit  of  a  church  in  Bohemia  that  is 
associated  with  the  memory  of  John  Huss,  the 
manifesto  is  written — a  fit  and  becoming  symbol 
for  the  Reformer,  whose  life  was  a  contention 
against  the  error  of  intermediaries  between  the 
one  Mediator  and  men.  Yet  Protestants  also 
need  to  be  reminded  that  neither  book  nor 
system  must  interpose  their  shadow — that  Christ 
Himself  is  the  all  in  all.  Beautiful  is  the  com- 
ment of  Thomas  a  Kempis  ;  may  it  interpret, 
and  interpreting,  elevate  our  thought — 

"  Without  the  way  tJiere  is  no  going ;  zvithout 
the  truth  there  is  no  knoiving ;  luithout  the  life 
there  is  Jio  living.  I  am  the  luay  zvJiicJi  thou 
oughtest  to  follow  ;  the  truth  zvhich  thou  oughtest 
to  trust ;  the  life  zvhich  thou  oughtest  to  hope  for. 

"  /  am  the  inviolable  zvay,  the  infallible  truth, 
the  endless  life. 

"  /  am  the  straightcst  way,  the  supreme  truth, 
t/ie  true,  the  blessed,  the  uncreated  life. 

"  If  thou  remain  in  My  way  thou  shall  knozu 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  thee  free,  rt-//^  imitation 
thou  shalt  lay  hold  on  eternal  life.''  t'^vSx.'' 

y-  chap.  56 


XII. 

THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP. 
St  John  xiv.  8-11. 

"Show  us  the  Father." 

^^  If  ye  had  known  Me  ye  should  have  known  My 
Father  also  ;  from  he?iceforth  ye  know  Him  and 
v=r-7-  have  seen  Him."  This  is  a  word  which  anew 
perplexes  the  disciples.  They  must  often  have 
spoken  one  to  another  of  their  Lord's  habitual 
reference  to  God  as  His  Father.  To  them  the 
Eternal  was  one  so  awful  that  they  scarcely  dared 
to  utter  "the  glorious  and  fearful  name  "Jehovah. 
But  He  lifted  up  His  eyes  to  heaven,  felt  Himself 
as  He  did  so  in  heaven,  and  calmly  said  to  the 
unseen  Presence,  Father.  They  had  seen  Him 
retiring  to  lonely  places  where,  undisturbed  by 
the  strife  of  tongues.  He  might  spend  the  night 
in  communion  with  His  Father.  He  had  told 
them  that  He  lived  by  the  Father ;  that  His 
meat  was  to  do  the  Father's  will ;  that  He  did 
nothing  of  Himself  but  what  He  saw  the  Father 
do.     Who  was  He  in  whose  society  Jesus  thus 


THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP.  I  4.7 

lived  ?  Could  He  not  be  made  visible  also  to 
them  ?  I  imagine  that  with  this  question  their 
minds  had  not  seldom  been  occupied.  It  is 
almost  forced  on  them  now  by  the  sentence  to 
which  they  had  listened.  Without  reflecting  on 
all  that  it  implied,  they  fasten  on  the  latter  part 
of  it,  which  asserts  that,  from  the  hour  then 
passing,  there  should  begin  a  distinct  and  satis- 
fying sight  of  the  Father,  and  assumes  that 
already  they  had  a  discernment  of  Him.  "  Nay," 
cries  Philip  ;  "  we  have  not  seen,  but  we  long  to 
see ;  Lord  show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth 

us!"  Ver.  8 

The  exclamation  is  one  which  accords  with 
all  our  information  concerning  Philip.     On  three 
other  occasions  he  is  specially  mentioned  in  this 
Gospel ;  and  the  impression  of  him  which  all  ch^p.  i  43- 
the  notices  sustain  is  that  of  a  man  without  1 ' 

Lhap.  VI  5-7. 

guile,  ingenuous,  downrightly  realistic.  He  is  chap.  xii  21, 
not  like  Thomas,  of  a  temperament  morbid  and  ^^' 
slow,  brooding  over  hozvs  and  intrenching  himself 
behind  excepts.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  eager, 
confiding,  anxious  only  to  possess  the  great 
fact.  If  he  can  behold  the  Father,  goal  and 
way  and  all  else  are  out  of  reckoning :  that  is 
enough.  Slow  and  carnal  although  his  ap- 
prehension is,  still  there  is  the  heart  of  faith 
beating  through  it.  He  has  a  right  thought,  a 
lofty  thought,  although  he  approaches  it  in  a 
wrong  direction.     His  cry  is  the  reverberation 


148  THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP. 

of  the  deep  longing  of  humanity.  And  he  ac- 
knowledges Christ  as  having  the  power  to  satisfy 
this  longing.  "  Previous  to  the  true  '  my  Lord 
and  my  God,'  there  was  no  greater  honour  given 
to  Christ,  no  higher  power  ascribed  to  Him,  than 

stier,  vol.  vi.  in  this  Lord  show  us  the  Father." 

p.  206.  Therefore,  Jesus  bears  with  the  interruption. 

It  is  a  trial  of  His  patience.  Because  it  evi- 
dences the  hankering,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Jew,  for  a  sign — a  revelation  external  to  Him- 
self conveyed  in  a  bodily  shape,  at  least  in  a 
form  which  the  senses  can  recognise.  When  the 
Eternal  spoke  to  him  "  as  a  man  speaketh  to  his 

Exodus        friend,"  Moses  entreated  for  a  manifestation  of 

xxxm.  34.  j^.^  glory ;  and  he  was  placed  in  a  clift  of  the 
rock,  and  the  Eternal  passed  by  and  proclaimed 
the  adorable  name.  Might  not  such  a  vision 
now  be  vouchsafed  for  the  sake  of  Him  whom 
Jehovah  heard  alway }  Well,  Christ  will  not 
overlook  the  request,  because  it  is  the  prayer  of 
faith.  But  first  there  is  a  gentle  yet  touching 
remonstrance.  Surely,  these  scholars  of  His 
might  have  attained  to  a  higher  standard  of 
perception.  After  the  progressive  revelations 
of  Himself  which  they  had  enjoyed,  surely  they 
might  have  realised  who  was  in  Him.  ^' Have 
I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  tJion  not 
known  Me,  Philip?  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath 
seen  the  Father ;  and  hoiv  sayest  thou  then,  Shew 

.,  us  the  Father  ?  " 

Ver.  9. 


THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP.  1 49 

The  saying  of  Christ,  called  forth  by  the 
apostle's  demand,  marks  the  climax  of  what  has 
been  described  as  His  self-assertion.  It  claims 
nothing  less  than  an  essential  unity  of  Being 
with  the  Father.  We  can  affirm  of  any  good 
man  that  he  dwells  in  God  and  God  in  him  ;  but 
we  dare  not  affirm  of  any  that  to  see  him  is  to 
see  the  Father  also.  Taken  in  connection  with 
the  promise  of  the  Comforter  which  follows,  the 
language  of  our  passage  is  equivalent  to  the 
teaching  that  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells 
in  Jesus  bodily.  Father  and  Son  are  united  in 
His  person,  and  in  His  name  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  be  sent.  Yet  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in 
view  the  distinction  of  the  two  selves,  Father 
and  Son.  Jesus  is  the  Son,  but  He  is  not 
the  Father  ;  the  Father  is  in  Him.  The  one- 
ness is  not  identification  ;  it  is  because  of  a 
perfect  mutual  operation,  in  consequence  of 
which  the  Father  originates  and  sustains  all 
that  the  Son  does,  the  Son  responds  to  and 
fulfils  all  that  the  Father  wills.  It  is  this  har- 
mony, this  reciprocal  life,  wrought  out  in  our 
flesh,  making  all  the  thought  and  action  of  the 
man  Christ  Jesus  divine,  which  constitutes  the 
mirror  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  "  From 
henceforth,  we  know,  we  have  seen,  the  Father." 
Than  this  showing  there  is,  there  can  be  no 
other. 

For  the  Father  as  such  can  be  revealed  only 


150  THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP. 

in  the  Son.  And  when  we  speak  of  God  other- 
wise than  as  our  Father,  what  conception,  clear 
or  dim,  have  we?  The  Infinite  ?  The  Absolute? 
Mere  abstractions,  these.  God  can  be  discerned 
only  through  the  relations  in  which  His  being  is 
connected  with  ours.  And  relations  are  under- 
stood through  their  correlations;  and  the  correla- 
tion of  Fatherhood  is  Sonship.  I  may  know  a 
person  in  various  ways — as  a  business  man,  or  a 
social  man,  or  in  respect  of  some  personal 
characteristics — but  I  cannot  know  him  as  a 
father  except  through  the  observation  of  what 
he  is  to  his  child,  and  his  child  is  to  him.  If, 
for  example,  I  see  one  wholly  devoted  to  some 
great  enterprise,  giving  his  own  life  away  for  the 
good  of  others, — one  of  a  rarely  beautiful  as  well 
as  energetic  character, — and  I  learn  from  him- 
self that,  in  all  his  conduct,  he  is  only  carry- 
ing out  the  will  of  his  father,  interpreting  the 
mind  with  which  he  is  in  constant  communion,  I 
am  taught,  as  otherwise  I  cannot  be  taught, 
what  that  father  in  his  will  and  character  is. 
He  is  revealed  to  me  in  the  son.  Assume  that 
Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  ;  trust  Him  for  being 
so ;  then  God  is  manifested  to  us  in  such  wise 
that  we  can  hold  Him  as  it  were  by  the  hand, 
and  live  in  open  converse  and  sympathy  with 
Him.     For  we  see  the  Father. 

No  doubt,  there  are  many  unveilings  of  the 
Eternal  in  the  things  around  us.     Many  are  the 


THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP.  I  5  I 

"  lattices  "  through  which  there  looks  forth  a  face 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun.  But,  in  regard 
even  to  such  glimpses,  it  must  be  said  that  wc 
see  only  with  the  eyes  which  we  bring.  A  hard, 
undevout,  mind  can  look  up,  and  down,  and 
around,  and  say,  There  is  no  God.  A  mind 
severely  logical  and  exact  may  say  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  probabilities  are  on  the  side  of  the 
existence  of  a  Supreme  Being;  but  that  the 
evidence  of  goodness  and  love  being  His  pre- 
dominant attributes  is  not  sufficient.  Nature  is 
a  cipher.  Great  are  its  messages,  manifold  its 
witness  for  God,  when  we  have  found  the  key. 
But  it  is  an  unread  cipher  until  we  have  found  the 
key.  Is  there  any  sermon  to  the  sinner  in  the 
stones  which  the  geologist  handles  >  Interrogate 
it  as  you  will,  has  the  universe  anything  to  say 
as  to  a  personal  relation  between  us  individu- 
ally and  God  >  Has  it  any  assurance  of  an 
eternal  life }  Granting  that  it  suggests,  that  it 
authorises  the  soul  to  say,  God  is  Almighty,  All- 
wise,  the  tendency  of  His  rule  ever  towards 
righteousness  ;  what  does  it  teach  .?  what  can  it 
teach  as  to  a  place  inside  His  righteousness  for 
the  guilty,  as  to  His  disposition  towards  His 
lost  and  alienated  children  }  But  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  grasping  the  words  "  God  is  love," 
when  we  gaze  on  the  love  which  has  been  mani- 
fested in  the  sending  of  the  only  begotten  Son. 
There  is  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  He  has 


152  THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP. 

commended  His  love  towards  us  as  sinners  when 
we  behold  His  Son  turning  to  the  woman  laden 
with  sin  as  she  bends  over  His  feet  in  godly 
sorrow,  and  saying  to  her,  "  Thy  sins  are  for- 

Luke  vii.  48.  given."  There  is  no  difficulty  in  crediting  that, 
despite  appearances,  He  wills  that  "  all  men 
shall  be  saved  and  come  unto  the  knowledge  of 

I  Tim.  ii,  4.  the  truth"  when  we  follow  His  Son  to  "the  place 
called  Calvary,"  and  witness  that  last  act  of 
filial  love  in  which  He  pours  out  His  life  a  ran- 
som for  many.  Oh !  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
yielding  up  the  inmost  soul  to  the  asking  love 
of  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
accounting  it  "a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,"  that  what  Fatherhood  was  shown 
to  be  in  the  Sonship  of  Jesus,  that  the  Father- 
hood of  God  is  to  us  and  all  men. 

Philip  is  right.  To  see  the  Father  sufficeth. 
But,  oh,  Philip,  to  have  lived  in  the  light  of  the 
Eternal  Life  as  thou  hast  done,  and  not  seen 
Him !  "  No  man  knoweth  the  Father,  save 
the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will 

Matt.  xi.  27.  reveal  Him."  And  He  has  been  willing  to 
reveal  the  All-Blessed  to  thee.  "  Hast  thou 
not  known  Me,"  is  the  touching  appeal. 
Thou  who  hast  been  associated  with  Him 
in  the  most  dear  and  intimate  companion- 
ship, to  have  missed  the  Father  whom  He 
was  revealing  to  thee !  Thou  didst  hear  that 
Father  in  the  tones  of  Jesus' voice.     Thou  didst 


THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP.  I  53 

behold  Him  in  the  glance  of  Jesus'  eye.  Thou 
didst  feel  Him  in  the  breath  of  Jesus'  mouth. 
Thou  didst  converse  with  Him  in  the  discourse 
on  grassy  upland,  in  the  parables  by  the 
side  of  Galilee's  lake,  on  the  mount  of  Olives, 
in  the  house  at  Bethany.  He  has  been  com- 
muning with  thee  at  the  supper-table,  and  yet 
thou  art  asking,  as  if  He  were  a  stranger  to  thee, 
"  Show  us  the  Father ! " 

Very  significant  is  the  utterance  in  which 
the  Lord  addresses  those  who  are  seated  be- 
side Him.  Turning  to  the  whole  company 
He  recalls  the  words  which  He  had  spoken 
in  that  room  and  at  previous  times.  In  them 
what  was  most  intimately  personal  to  Him  had 
been  declared  ;  and  the  child  of  the  Kingdom 
should  have  asked  nothing  more.  "  If  you  are 
a  believer,"  said  Chrysostom  on  one  occasion,  "as 
you  ought  to  be,  and  love  Christ  as  you  ought 
to  love  Him,  you  have  no  need  of  miracles,  for 
these  are  given  to  unbelievers."  Christ  assumes 
that  those  who  love  Him  have  no  need  of 
miracles.  "  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  yon  I 
speak  not  of  Myself."  Had  they  not  discerned  ver.  lo. 
in  them  the  operation  of  the  Father  in  Him, 
His  words,  the  Father's  ivorks  ? 

If  the  force  of  this  inner  testimony  is  not 
acknowledged  ;  if  the  Father-evidencing  char- 
acter of  the  words  is  not  perceived;  the  disciples 


154  THE  REQUEST  OF  PHILIP. 

must  take  the  lower  ground  which  He  had  been 
content  to  reserve  for  the  Jews.  Thus,  at  the 
feast  of  dedication,  when  the  people  came 
"round  about  Him  "  and  demanded  an  explicit 
statement  as  to  His  Messiahship,  He  concluded 
the  statement  He  did  make  with  the  challenge, 
"  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  My  Father,  believe  Me 
not.  But  if  I  do,  though  ye  believe  not  Me, 
believe  the  works :  that  ye  may  know  and  believe 
Chap.  X.  37,  that  the  Father  is  in  Me,  and  I  in  Him."  TJien, 
^ '  we  see,  He  refers  only  to  the  ivorks, — -tJiese  were 

for  the  unbelieving  Jews.  He  calls  them  to  rise 
from  the  testimony  of  the  works  which  were 
pre-eminently  the  sign  of  the  Father  in  Him,  to 
the  reception  of  the  ivords  which  were  pre-emi- 
nently the  sign  of  Him  in  the  Father.  Must 
He  set  this  course  before  His  own  ?  Must  He 
tell  them  that,  since  they  cannot  at  once  respond 
to  the  light  that  is  in  the  words,  since  they  can- 
not, with  the  insight  of  faith,  realise  the  truth  of 
His  person,  they,  too,  must  begin  with  the  out- 
ward acts,  with  the  miracles  which  are  for  un- 
believers .■*  There  is  the  sense  of  disappoint- 
ment in  the  alternative  presented — "-Believe  Me 
that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  tlie  Father  in  Me  ; 
Ver.  II.        or  else  believe  Me  for  the  very  works'  sake'.' 


XIII. 

THE   GREATER   WORKS. 
St  John  xiv.  12-15. 

"Greater  works  ....  because  I  go  unto  My  Father." 

"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  yon T  Thus  we  are  pre-  ver  12 
pared  for  a  word  of  special  importance.  Hither- 
to, the  discourse  of  Christ,  prolonged  by  the 
interruptions  of  the  disciples,  has  been  mainly 
occupied  with  His  relation  to  the  Father.  Now, 
He  would  pass  to  the  thought  of  His  relation  to 
His  followers — to  His  Church  until  the  end  of 
the  ages.  And  the  announcement  prefaced  by 
the  double  Amen  marks  the  transition  from  the 
one  point  to  the  other.  In  this  way : — The 
works  on  account  of  which  He  claims  the  faith 
of  men  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  isolated  and 
exceptional,  with  no  successions  and  no  exten- 
sions. Far  from  this,  they  are  only  the  tokens 
of  a  power  which  shall  continue  to  act, — nay, 
which  shall  find  immeasurably  ampler  scope 
and  larger  results  because  of  His  going  to  the 
Father.     He  has  summoned  those  around  Him 


156  THE  GREATER  WORKS. 

to  a  faith  in  Himself,  of  the  same  kind  and 
measure  as  their  faith  in  God.  He  has  told 
them,  if  they  cannot  respond  immediately  to  the 
truth  of  His  own  personality,  to  consider  the 
evidence  furnished  by  His  works.  At  once.  He 
reminds  them  that  the  faith  which  He  demands 
is  the  condition  of  an  union  with  Him,  so  ener- 
getic that  "  he  that  believeth  on  Me,  the  works  that 
I  do  shall  he  do  also;  and  greater  works  than  these 
ver.  12.        shall  he  do  ;  because  I  go  unto  My  Father!' 

Are  we  not  tempted  to  interpose  the  question. 
How  can  this  be }  The  believer  in  Christ  to  do 
Christ's  very  works,  ay,  and  greater  than  His — 
surely  this  cannot  literally  be  true  !  What  deed 
of  Apostle  or  Christian  in  any  time  can  equal 
or  surpass  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  or  the  feeding 
of  the  thousands  in  the  desert  place,  or  the  cure 
of  the  sick,  and  the  blind,  and  the  deaf,  who 
were  brought  to  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  }  To 
affirm  that  such  pov/er  is  possessed  by  the  one 
who  trusts  Jesus,  may  be  possessed  by  ourselves; 
nay,  that  more  splendid  trophies  of  victory, 
mightier  activities  far,  are  in  the  grasp  of  the 
Church  since,  and  on  account  of,  the  departure  of 
Jesus — must  not  this  be  accepted  as  only  a  bold, 
paradoxical  form  of  speech  } 

Against  such  a  view  there  sounds  the  solemn 
"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  yon^"  Christ's 
language  is  not  that  of  figure :  it  is  the  distinct 
forecast  of  fact. 


THE  GREATER  WORKS.  I  5  7 

The  writers  and  preachers  of  the  early 
Christian  centuries  dwelt  often  on  this  forecast. 
They  beheld  its  fulfilment  in  the  more  striking 
displays  of  miraculous  power  by  the  Apostles 
and  the  Church  in  its  first  days, — such  as  the 
strange  tongues  in  which  men  declared  the 
works  of  God,  the  healing  of  the  sick  by  the 
shadow  of  Peter,  and  so  forth.  They  pointed 
to  the  vast  number  of  miracles,  to  the  extension 
of  the  scene  of  their  performance  beyond  Judea, 
and  the  wider  effect  which  they  exercised. 
They  referred,  above  all,  to  the  ingathering  at 
Pentecost  of  three  thousand  souls,  whereas  only 
one  hundred  and  twenty  are  mentioned  as  con- 
tinuing in  prayer  after  the  departure  of  Jesus. 
And  then  they  described  the  spread  of  His 
Gospel  throughout  the  different  parts  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  until,  within  a  comparatively 
short  period,  the  sound  of  the  Apostles'  testimony 
had  gone  through  all  the  earth.  Says  Luther, 
interpreting  the  mind  of  these  Fathers,  "  Christ 
took  but  a  little  corner  for  Himself  to  preach  and 
work  miracles  in  ;  whereas  the  Apostles  and  Quoted  by 
their  followers  have  spread  themselves  over  the  menfary,"?"" 
whole  world."  ^"' 

We  may  dismiss  all  comparisons  in  respect  of 
what  is  merely  wonderful  in  outward  act  be- 
tween our  Lord's  works  and  those  of  believers. 
Such  "a  mechanical  measurement"  of  the  great- 
ness of  miracles,  as   it  has  well   been  said,  is 


158  THE  GREATER  WORKS. 

entirely  foreign  to  the  New  Testament.  "  The 
term  greater  does  not  indicate  more  astounding 
miracles,    but    miracles    of    a    more    excellent 

Oodet's        nature." 

tary"p!2'47.  ChHst,  as  wc  havc  seen,  placed  His  words  on 
a  far  higher  level  than  His  works,  understanding 
by  His  works  the  outward  manifestations  of 
supernatural  force.  To  these,  so  far  as  they 
were  wonders,  He  attached  little  consequence. 
It  was  a  pain  to  Him,  that  except  men  saw 

John  iv.  48.  these  wonders,  they  would  not  believe.  He  never 
put  forth  His  power  for  mere  effect.  Whatever 
He  did  was  related,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  a 
moral  end  or  to  a  purpose  of  love.  Given  the 
conception  of  the  Son  of  God,  with  the  heart 
and  the  will  of  the  Eternal  Love,  having  access 
to,  rather  having  in  Himself,  a  reserve  of  infinite 
power — it  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  He 
could  be  deaf  to  the  appeals  continually  pre- 
sented to  Him,  that  He  could  refuse  the  help 
which  misery  asked.  Some  indications  of  His 
will,  some  flashes  of  His  redemptive  energy,  we 
would  assured  1)^  expect.  He  would  not  have 
revealed  the  Father  if  it  had  been  otherwise. 
Could  the  Father  have  refused  to  put  forth  the 
hand  and  touch  the  shrivelled  and  emaciated 
figure  and  said,  "I  will,  be  thou  clean,"  when 
the  leper  came,  beseeching  and  kneeling,  and 

Mark i. 40,    crying,  "If  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst."     It  is  the 

^'"  moving  of  Jesus'  heart  with  compassion  and  the 


THE  GREATER  WORKS.  I  59 

action   obedient  to  this  which   manifests  God. 
But  there  is  always  an  ethical  or  spiritual  ele- 
ment in  the  work  wherein  He  would  have  men 
look  for  the  sign  of  Him.     He  bids  them  from 
what  is    external    to  what    is    internal.     Even, 
sometimes,  in  the  manner,  always  in  the  farther 
reference  of  His  doing,  the  spiritual  is  declared 
to  be  the  sphere  of  the  greater  work.     In  that 
sphere   is    the    more    excellent    counterpart    of 
His  activity  which  He  predicts  for  the  believer. 
For,  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  we  trace, 
although  not  under  the  same  special  forms,  the 
same  kind  of  energy  as  that  which  characterised 
the  life  of  Jesus.     Not  a  man,  called  out  of  the 
tomb  in  which  he   had   lain  four   days,  but  a 
Lazarus — a  dead  community,  decaying  faiths, 
consciences   whose   vitality  was    suspended — a 
Lazarus  on  a  larger  scale,  so  to  say,  has  often 
been  quickened,  summoned  from  the  sepulchre, 
loosed  and  let  go.    Administering  the  word  and 
sacraments  which  Christ  has  blessed,  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  have  been  fed  on  what 
seemed  a  provision  wholly  inadequate :   "  The 
little  one  has  become  a  thousand,  and  the  small 
one  a  strong  nation."     Yielding  to  the  guidance  isa.  i> 
of  the  spirit  of  the  life  in  Christ,  ministries  and 
agencies  of  healing   have  been   multiplied,  so 
that  every  day,  in  vast  numbers  and  through 
delicate   appliances,   by   a   skill    and    devotion 
which   themselves    are   miracles,   the   sick   are 


l6o  THE  GREATER  WORKS. 

cured,  the  demon-possessed  are  exorcised,  the 
diseased  and  the  weary  are  blessed.  In  a  sense, 
and  a  true  sense  too,  it  may  be  said  that  all  the 
trophies  of  civilisation,  all  the  marvels  of  science, 
all  the  potencies  whose  secret  the  years  are  more 
and  more  yielding  up  to  us,  point  to  works  anti- 
cipated, in  prophetic  act,  in  Christ's,  and  are  thus 
far  the  fruit  of  faith,  that  confidence  in  Christ 
first  set  the  human  mind  free,  by  the  power  of 
truth,  for  the  pursuit  of  all  that  is  true  and  good. 
But,  limiting  the  promised  works  to  the  moral 
or  spiritual  realm,  whether  we  regard  what 
Christianity  has  developed,  or  regard  the  develop- 
ment of  Christianity  itself,  surely,  we  find  the 
ancient  description  verified  :  "  These  signs  shall 
follow  them  that  beheve ;  in  My  name  shall 
they  cast  out  devils  ;  they  shall  speak  with  new 
tongues;  they  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if  they 
drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them  ; 
they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall 
Mark.xvi.17,  recover."  "  Prayers  and  pains,"  said  the  devoted 
Elliot,  "  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  will 
accomplish  almost  anything." 

These  are  the  continuation,  yet  the  amplifica- 
tion, of  Christ's  works.  Greater  ;  as  the  grown- 
up man  is  greater  than  the  child ;  as  the 
language,  "fitly  framed  together  and  compacted," 
is  greater  than  the  rudiments ;  as  the  plan  is 
greater  than  the  first  sketch,  or  the  building 
greater  than  the  plan  ;  as  the  harvest  is  greater 


THE  GREATER  WORKS.  l6l 

than  the  seed-time,  the  reaper  than  the  sower ; 
as  the  spiritual  is  greater  than  the  physical ;  as 
the  end  is  greater  than  the  means ;  so  are  the 
energies  and  activities  of  the  Church  directed 
to  and  instrumental  in  the  regeneration  and 
redemption  of  the  world  greater  than  the 
energies  and  activities  which  visibly  radiated 
from  the  man  Christ  Jesus  during  the  time 
that  He  went  out  and  in  amongst  the  men  of 
Galilee. 

Observe,  in  the  two  verses  which  follow,  what 
the  Lord  says  as  to  the  administration  and  tJic 
conditions  of  realising  this  sovereign,  victorious 
pozver. 

The  source  is  the  Father.  Christ  declares  of 
His  own  works,  that  "  it  is  the  Father  who  doeth 
them."  But  the  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Son 
who  goes  to  the  Father.  Hence  the  promise  is, 
"  Whatever  ye  ask,  that  will  /  do  ;  "  hence  it  is 
added,  "  that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Ver.  13. 
So7i.''  The  honouring  of  the  Son  is  the  glory- 
fying  of  the  Father.  Hence,  finally,  the  clause,  Ver.  14. 
"  Ask  in  My  nanier  Not  as  if  that  clause  meant 
merely  the  use  of  the  name  of  Jesus  at  the  end  of 
prayer,  adopting  such  a  formula  as  "  for  Christ's 
sake,"  or  "through  Christ."  The  name,  when  em- 
ployed in  Scripture  with  reference  to  God,  repre- 
sents the  person  "  in  the  whole  compass  of  its 
properties."  Thus,  the  warning  to  Israel  as  to 
L 


1 62  THE  GREATER  WORKS. 

the  Angel  whom  Jehovah  would  send  is  based 
Exodus xxiii.  on  the  sentence,  "My  name  is  in  him;"  and 
the  assurance  given  as  to  the  altars  which  would 
be  reared  is,  "  In  all  places  where  I  record  My 
name   I  will  come  unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless 
Exodus  .XX.   thee."     Similarly  the  name  of  Jesus  denotes  all 
^'^'  that  is  personal  to  Him  as  Lord  and  Christ.    To 

ask  in  His  name  is  to  have  the  request  accor- 
dant with  His  mind,  His  spirit,  His  will,  to  make 
it  in  the  consciousness  of  the  affiance  of  our  heart 
with  Him.  For,  the  energy  fulfilled  in  the  works 
is  His.  It  is  He  who  baptiseth  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.  "  Being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted, 
and  having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  hath  shed  forth  this, 
Acts  ii.  33.  which  ye  now  see  and  hear,"  testified  St  Peter 
to  the  amazed  and  doubting  multitude  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost. 

What  are  the  conditions  of  realising  the  gifts 
which  the  Saviour,  having  gone  to  the  Father, 
has  "  received  for  men,  that  the  Lord  God  might 

Psiim  ixviii.  dwell  among  them  "  .■' 
18.  *  . 

First,  a  living,  self-surrendering  faith.     "  He 

that  bclievetJi  on  Me,  the  ivorks  that  I  do  shall 

ver.  12.        he  do  also."     Not  otherwise  than  through  this 

confidence,   opening   the    heart    to    Christ   that 

He  may  come  in  with  His  great  power,  can  the 

spiritual  energy  referred  to  be  developed  in  the 

Church.     "  Why  could  not  we  cast  him  out  ^  " 

ask  the  apostles  ;  and  the  answer  is,  "  Because 


THE  GREATER  WORKS.  l6 


O 


of  your  unbelief."     For   the  same  reason  how  Matt.  xvii. 
much  power  is  lost !      How  many  of  our  signs 
have  vanished  !     How  cold  and  unfruitful  are  the 
ministries  !    How  barren  of  blessing  too  often  the 
ordinances  of  God's  Zion  !     We  know  that  the 
Lord  has  not  withdrawn  His  gifts.     What  He 
shed  forth  on  Pentecost  was  not  a  mere  passing 
shower,  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  plenteous  rain, 
in  which   He  has  willed  that   His  congregation 
should  dwell.     Why  is  it,  then,  that  we  see  not 
His  mighty  arm,  as  we  desire  to  see  it,  in  the 
midst  of  His  people  .-•     Why  do  we  not  behold 
the  promised  "greater  works"  in  the  measure 
and  to  the  extent  of  His  promise .''     Why  are 
our  missions  so  hindered  .''   Admitting  that  much 
has  been  done  to  preach  the  gospel  for  a  witness 
to   all   the   nations,   why  is   it   still   the  day  of 
small    things .''     Why,    in    Christendom,    do   so 
"  many  children  seek  for  the  Lord's  refreshing 
grace   and    return   empty,    or   wander  without 
shepherds,    having    none    to    guide    or    recover 
them  "  ?     Is  this  because  we  have  forgotten  our 
confidence  in  the  Lord.'*  because  we  have  learned 
to  trust  more  in  the  operations  of  man  than  in 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come .-'  because  we 
have  not,  as  we  should  have,  the  faith  which 
approves  itself  by  seeking  to  complete  the  order 
of  the  Lord's  house,  and  by  leaning  only  on  Him 
who  is  faithful  to  the  pledge  that  He  is  with  His 
Church  always,  even  to  the  end  ?     Shall  we  not 


I  64  THE  GREATER  WORKS. 

reflect  on   this,   and  renew  the   prayer  of  the 
Luke  xvii.  5.  apostles,  "  Lord  increase  our  faith." 

For  there  is,  as  the  farther  condition  of  blessing, 
t/ie  preparation  of  prayer — that  prayer  which  is 
the  necessary  outcome  and  manifestation  of  faith. 
Ask  is  the  command  of  Christ.     It  represents 
the  activity  of  reception  in  the  disciple  which 
corresponds  to  the  activity  of  bestowment  in  the 
Lord.    How  wonderful  is  the  assurance,  "  What- 
soever ye  shall  ask  in  My  name,  tJiat  will  I  do : " 
"  If  ye  shall  ask  any  tJiing  in  My  name,  I  will  do 
Vers.  13,  ,4.  it."     Can  we  forget  that  such  asking  preceded 
the  most  remarkable  exercise  of  divine  power 
recorded  in  the  history  of  the  Church }     The 
disciples  had  been  for  days  united  in  supplica- 
tion.    They  were  waiting  for  the  earnest  of  the 
inheritance ;  and  they  waited,  contmuing  in  prayer. 
It  was  when  they  were  "  all  with  one  accord  in 
Acts  ii.  I.      one  place "  that  the  power  came  upon  them. 
And  the  narrative  of  that  day  is  the  type  and 
ensample  for  all  days.     Christ's  Church  has  one 
strength,  all-sufficient,  but  only  one.   The  strength 
is  in  God,  and  the  way  of  that  strength  is  the 
channel  of  fervent,  persevering,  united  asking. 
Promise  on  His  part  does  not  supersede,  it  pro- 
ceeds on  the  supposition  of  action,  of  prayer,  on  our 
part.    "They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
Isaiah  xi.  31.  their  strength."    The  waiting,  as  is  shown  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Acts,  is  in  prayer.    Unbelief, 
or  half-belief,  as  to  the  cfifcctualness  of  pra}-er  is 


THE  GREATER  WORKS.  I  65 

the  paralysis  of  the  Church.  Surely  the  word 
is  sounding  in  the  ear  of  all  who  wait,  "  Ye  that 
make  mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence, 
and  give  Him  no  rest,  till  He  establish,  and  till 
He  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth."  is.iiahix 

Finally,  the  power  is  conditioned  on  the  ^' 
love  which  is  evidenced  in  obedience.  "  If  ye  love 
Me  keep"  or,  "ye  ivill  keep,  My  eoniniandnients!'  Ver.  15. 
The  speech  passes  from  believing,  as  the  main 
requirement,  to  loving.  But  is  not  love  the 
germ  of  faith  }  The  Lord  does  not  say.  Love  Me, 
as  He  says,  Believe  on  Me.  He  assumes  the  love 
as  indeed  the  first  faith,  to  be  perfected  as  faith 
increases,  but  in  the  heart  as  the  faith  of  the 
heart.  And  we  notice  of  what  kind  the  love  is. 
Not  a  mere  luxury  of  sentiment,  not  a  mere 
blissfulness  of  feeling,  but  a  real  oneness  of  will 
with  Christ,  fulfilled  in  the  earnest,  practical 
subjection  to  His  commandments.  For  him 
who  thus  believes,  thus  prays,  thus  obeys,  the 
going  forth  of  the  promise  of  the  Father  is  pre- 
pared :  ''And  I  zv  ill  pray  the  Father,  and  He 
shall  give  you" — what  .^  whom  .?  Let  our  next  ver.  16. 
chapter  unfold  the  kernel  of  the  great  consola- 
tion. 


XIV. 

THE  SON'S  PRAYER  AND  THE  FATHER'S  GIFT. 
St  John  xiv.  16-24. 

' '  Another  Comforter. " 

Now  the  discourse  returns  to  the  point  at  which 
Thomas  interposed  his  question.  The  subject- 
matter  of  the  consolation  has  not  yet  been 
fully  declared.  One  part  of  it  only  has  been 
presented,  the  care  and  work  of  Jesus  for  His 
own  in  that  Father's  house  to  which  He  is  going. 
But  there  remains  the  other  part  which  deals 
with  their  position  when  He  is  taken  from 
them.  However  inspiriting  may  be  the  assur- 
ance of  a  power  exceeding  abundant  above  all 
that  they  could  ask  or  think,  it  does  not  meet 
the  whole  need  and  craving  of  the  heart. 
These  poor  disciples  who  had  hitherto  depended 
entirely  on  their  Master  are  to  be  left  as  sheep 
in  the  midst  of  wolves — lonely  orphaned  souls, 
scholars  without  a  teacher,  children  without  a 
parent.  To  exhibit  His  provision  for  them  in 
this  state  of  apparent  bereavement  is  the  desire 


THE  son's  prayer  AND  FATHER'S  GIPT.  I  6; 

of  Christ.  And  in  the  gracious  sentences  before 
us  He  proceeds  to  cheer  them  with  the  solemn 
pledge  that  if  He  goes  from  them  in  bodilv 
presence  it  is  only  that  He  may  come  to  them 
ni  a  nearer  and  more  blissful  intimacy  than 
they  had  ever  realised,  that  His  connection 
With  them  will  remain  unbroken,  and  that  in  a- 
day  of  clearer  illumination,  which  shall  dawn 
after  a  little  while,  they  will  know  what  had 
perplexed  them,  they  will  perceive  the  truth  of 
His  Person,  and  be  conscious  of  somethino- 
more-they  will  know  that  He  is  in  the  Fathe? 
and  they  in  Him,  and  He  in  them.  '  ,-^^  ^^ 

All  that  this  word  contains  and  suggests  is 
summed  up  in  the  promise  of  the  Father,  which 
IS  for  the  first  time  unfolded.  Yes  ;  hints,  fore- 
shadowmgs  of  it  had  been  given  at  sundry  times 
during  the  Lord's  ministry.  But  the  first  plain 
word,  directly  and  explicitly  presenting  the 
office  and  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  spoken  at 
the  supper  table.  It  lies  before  us  in  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  verses.  There  are  three 
other  descriptions  of  the  mission  of  this  Blessed 
One  in  the  portion  of  the  address  which  follows 
and,  referring  to  them,  we  shall  afterwards  have 
occasion  to  glance  at  some  aspects  of  His 
mission.  But  there  is  a  beauty,  there  is  a 
meaning,  peculiar  to  the  earliest  of  the  intima 
tions.  It  is  "  the  private  and  confidential  "  one 
Its  particular  purpose  is    to    s\^o^x  how  there 


1 68  THE  son's  prayer  and  father's  GH^'T. 

shall  be  such  a  continuation  of  the  old  ties 
and  the  old  relations,  of  the  help  which  His 
followers  had  ever  found  in  Jesus,  that  although 
the  world  will  see  Him  no  more,  they  and  all  His 
believing  people  will  see  Him  and  share  in  His 
Ver.  19.  life.  Let  us  try  to  gather  up  some  crumbs  of  the 
feast  which  is  spread  in  the  saying  under  review. 

The  introductory  clauses  are  significant.  One 
of  these  has  already  been  noticed ;  one  which 
reminds  us  both  of  the  end  of  all  true  prayer 
and  the  reality  of  all  true  faith.  The  disciple 
who  asks  in  the  name  of  Christ  desires  a  part  in 
the  greater  works  only  in  so  far  as  the  Father 
may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.  His  wish  is  that  in 
all  things  he  shall  fill  "  a  little  space,"  that  in 
all  things  Christ  shall  have  the  pre-eminence. 
From  this  love  to  Him  there  comes  the  one 
supreme  longing  breathed  through  all  prayer, 
that  the  will  may  be  lifted  up  to  Christ's,  made 
one  with  Christ's,  be  kept  in  a  constant  and 
entire  devotion  to  Christ's  commandments.  In 
such  obedience  the  way  is  prepared  for 
spiritual  blessing.  And,  therefore,  the  Lord 
conjoins  with  the  word  enforcing  it,  the  assur- 
ance, "/,  for  My  part,  %vill  pray  the  Father,  and 
He  shall  give  you — thus  loving  Me  and  keeping 
vcr.  16.        My  commandments — anotJier  Comforter^ 

Observe  the  language.     The  verb  employed 
to  denote  Jesus'  asking  is  not  the  same  as  that 


THE  son's  prayer  AND  FATHEr's  GIFT.  1  69 

employed  in  a  preceding  verse  to  denote  the 
asking  of  the  disciples.  It  is  expressive  of  a 
more  familiar  pleading ;  "  rather,  perhaps,  a 
manner  of  asking,  implying  actual  presence  and  ■^}^°'^^'^ 

o'  i.    ■/        c>  J  ^  Commentary 

nearness."  It  is  the  praying  of  the  Mediator 
after  He  ascended  on  high,  "through  His  own 
blood  entering  in  once  for  all  into  the  holy 
place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  Hebrews  ix. 
us."  There  is  a  beautiful  commentary  on  the 
conjunction  of  the  obedient  church  and  the 
praying  Saviour  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  the  Acts.  "  Wait,"  was  the  parting  injunction 
of  Christ,  "  for  the  promise  of  the  Father  which  Acts  i  4. 
ye  have  heard  of  Me."  They  kept  the  command- 
ment. For  ten  days  they  continued  in  prayer 
and  supplication,  waiting.  And  what  was  the  evi- 
dence that  He  had  fulfilled  His  covenant,  that 
He  had  prayed  the  Father  .''  Pentecost  was  the 
evidence.  He  had  received  of  the  Father  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Observe  the  order :  "  /  will  pray.    .    .    .    The 
Father   shall    give!'      The    Comforter    is    the 
Father's   gift,   "  sent    from    the    Father,''   "  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Father."     But  the   Son  also  chap.xv.  26. 
sends :    He  receives  the   Father's  gift,   and   in 

His  name  \.\\Q  Spirit  of  Truth  is  sent.     That  is  chap.  xiv. 

.  26 

to   say,  this    Holy  Comforter   is   in    the   whole 

truth  of  Jesus'  Person,  and  the  whole  truth  of 

Jesus'  Person  is  in  Him.     He  is  sent,  not  as  a 

substitute  for  the  Christ  whom   the   men  who 


I  70  THE  SON  S  PRAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT. 

-  had  been  given  to  Him  knew,  but  as  the  Revela- 
tion to  them  of  that  very  Christ.  He  is  in  the 
name  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  and  all  which  this 
name  represents  is  realised  in  His  communion 
with  men.  This  is  the  Redeemer's  reward. 
This  is  the  neiv  thing  in  the  Promise  which  is 
declared.  God's  Spirit  had  always  striven  with 
men.  From  His  inspiration  come  all  true 
thought  and  right  action  ;  but,  since  the  man 
was  glorified,  there  has  been  a  new  tabernacling 
of  God  with  men — God  in  the  humanity  which 
Christ  took  into  the  Godhead  supping  with 
men  and  they  with  Him. 

For  what  is  the  substance  of  the  Promise .-' 
Pause,  dear  reader,  over  the  expression,  ^'a?iother 
Coinfortci-r  Much  has  been  written  in  elucida- 
tion of  that  phrase,  the  Comforter.  It  is  the 
translation  of  the  Greek  term  Paraclete.  Else- 
where it  is  translated  advocate;  "we  have  an 
advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the 
I  John  ii.  I.  Righteous."  And  there  is  no  doubt  that  it 
signifies  "  one  who  stands  as  the  counsel  of  an 
accused  party,  who  pleads  his  cause  and  serves 
him  by  advice  and  help,  admonition  and  en- 
couragement, as  his  case  needs."  Our  English 
Testament,  from  the  days  when  the  first  version 
was  prepared  by  Wyclifte,  and  distributed  over 
England  by  his  poor  priests,  has  rendered  the 
word   as  used  in  the  Gospel,  Comforter.     And 


THE  SON  S  PRAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT.    I  7  I 

we  would  not  have  it  otherwise,  for  it  is  en- 
deared to  us  by  long  use,  by  tender  associations, 
and  by  its  own  attractiveness.  But  we  must 
recollect  that  the  word  comprehends  more  than 
is  usually  attached  to  the  notion  of  a  comforter. 
WyclifFe  meant  more  when  he  pressed  it  into 
service.  Thus,  he  translates  the  sentence  as  to 
the  angel  in  the  garden,  "  there  appeared  an 
angel  comforting  Him,"  not  merely  consoling, 
but  as  we  read,  ''  strengtJiening  Him!'  It  is  a 
helper  ;  one  who  will  be  what  Jesus,  in  the  days 
of  His  flesh,  had  been  :  a  Counsellor,  Teacher, 
Father,  "  Guide,  Philosopher,  Friend  " — going 
before  them,  leading  them,  suggesting  the 
thought  and  the  word  and  giving  boldness  for 
the  deed,  and  "  interceding  within  them  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered  " — whom  the 
Father  has  given  that  He  may  abide  with  His 
Church  for  ever. 

"Eveji  the  Spirit  of  Truth ."  The  Spirit  who  Ver.  17. 
is  truth  because  He  proceedeth  from  the  Father 
in  the  name  of  the  Son,  and  is  therefore  the 
tri-unity  of  God,  in  whom  God  is,  and  is  revealed 
in  the  spirit  of  man.  The  Spirit  whose  sphere 
of  operation  is  truth  :  who  receives  of  Christ  the 
Incarnate  Truth,  and  shows  what  is  Christ's  in 
Nature,  in  Providence,  above  all,  in  the  word. 
The  Spirit  who  leads  into  and  produces  the 
truth  in  the  soul  that  is  opened  in  trust  to  Him, 
by  manifesting  the  correspondence  between  the 


I  ']2  THE  SON  S  PRAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT. 

revelation  of  the  Father  in  the  Son  and  the  need 
and  craving  of  man,  by  enlightening  the  eyes  to 
see  "  the  gleam  of  love  and  prayer  that  dawns  on 
every  cross  and  care,"  and  to  realise  the  glorious 
things  which  God  has  prepared  for  them  that 
love  Him,  by  sanctifying  in  the  truth  of  the 
illumined  and  vivified  word.  The  Spirit  who 
makes  true  by  imparting  His  own  nature,  by 
dwelling  within  as  the  "  Spirit  of  wisdom  and 
Eph.  i.  i8.     revelation,"  "  of  power  and  love  and  of  a  sound 

2  lim.  1.  7.  ^ 

Rom.viii.is.  niind,"  "of  adoption,"  "of  holiness,"  "of  com- 

Kom.  I.  4.  ^ 

Acts ix. 31.    fort" — "the    Spirit   of    God's   Son,"    and    thus 

Gal.  IV.  6.  '■ 

Eph.  i.  13.  '<  the  seal  "  of  the  believer's  Sonship.  Oh,  how 
great  and  precious  the  promise  !  the  gift  of  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ! 

And  if  it  is  said  that  this  Spirit  "  tJic  zvorld 

Vcr.  17.  cannot  receive"  \\Q^  do  not  need  to  inquire  into 
the  ground  of  the  inability  thus  asserted. 
The  world  that  zvonld  not  receive  Christ,  that 
saw  no  beauty  in  Him,  that  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  mind  that  was  in  Him,  could  not  re- 
ceive the  other  Comforter.  Where  there  is  no 
desire  connecting  the  soul  with  Christ,  no 
affiance  of  heart  to  Him,  there  is  no  capacity 
for  the  spiritual  presence  and  office  of  the 
Comforter.  A  certain  kinshijD,  at  least  a  certain 
moral  attraction,  is  necessary  to  fellowship  be- 
tween one  person  and  another.  Where  the 
moral  conditions  of  a  life  arc  alienated  from 
the  life  of  the  Father,  there  is  no  readiness  for 


THE  SON  S  PRAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT.    I  73 

the  quickening  touch  and  renovating  agency  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  As  there  cannot  be  vision 
without  an  organ  of  sight,  knowledge  without  a 
faculty  of  reception,  so,  in  the  words  of  Jesus, 
the  world  cannot  receive  the  One  whom  He 
will  send,  "  because  it  seeth  Him  not,  neither 
knozveth  HiinT  Ver.  17. 

This  is  easily  understood.  But  the  meaning 
of  what  follows  is  not  so  plain  :  "  Ye  knoiv 
Him,  for  He  dzvelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  Ver.  17. 
youT  Was  not  this  a  new  promise .''  Did  not 
this  new  promise  announce  a  Presence  hitherto 
un  revealed  .-* 

The  explanation  I  take  to  be  this  : — Although 

they  did  not  understand  the  scope  of  the  Life 

manifested  to  them  in  Christ,  the  disciples  had 

been  in  communion  with  this  Holy  Spirit ;  for 

this    Holy  Spirit  had  been  speaking   to   them, 

breathing  on  them,  circling  around  them  with 

His  gracious  influences  in  the  Person  of  Christ. 

He  was  present  in  Christ,  just  as,  afterwards, 

they  knew  Christ   to  be   present  in   the  Spirit. 

Christ  is  the  one  Comforter.     The  Spirit,  who  is 

in  the  name  of  Christ,  is  the  other  Comforter. 

Another,  not  in  the  sense  of  a  different,  but  the 

same  only  in  another  mode  of  Being.     As  we 

sometimes  phrase  it,  the  alter  ego,  the  other  I. 

What  is   pledged   to  us,  therefore,  is  that  the 

departure    of    Christ    in    a    visible    corporeity 

ensures  the  coming  of  the  very  self  that  was 


I  74  THE  SON  S  PRAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT. 

incarnated  in  Christ  in  a  form  in  which  this  self 
shall  be  more  closely  and  permanently  personal 
to  us.  "  Think,"  says  the  Lord,  "  of  what  I  was 
when  I  went  out  and  in  among  you.  Reflect 
on  the  manner  of  person  you  have  found  Me  to 
be ;  as,  in  that  manner  of  person,  you  beheld  the 
Heart  and  Will  of  the  Father,  so  in  it  you 
have  been  beholding  the  character,  the  work, 
the  Person  of  the  Comforter  whom  the  Father 
shall  give."  Let  me  repeat  what  I  have  already 
said  :  do  not  allow  thought  to  conceive  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  taking  Christ's  place,  as  doing 
duty  for  the  absent  Saviour ;  let  us  always 
remember  that  in  Him  the  place  for  Christ  is 
secured  in  the  heart.  He  comes  that,  by  His 
coming,  Christ  may  abide,  not  carnally  or 
visibly,  but  really  and  spiritually  with  or  by  His 
Church,  and  may  enter  into  and  dwell  within 
those  who  love  the  Lord  and  keep  His  word. 

Behold  the  two  great  features  of  the  Presence 
Ver.  17.  of  the  Spirit — "//t'  abides  with  tJic  C/uiir/i." 
He  is  not  one  who  sometimes  comes  and  then 
goes.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  even  the  language 
of  faith  occasionally  encourages  this  conception. 
We  pray  for  visitations  of  the  Spirit ;  we  plead, 
"Pass  me  not,  O  mighty  Spirit;"  we  refer  to 
works  of  the  Spirit  in  one  place  as  if  there  were  no 
such  works  in  another,  or  at  one  season  as  if  there 
were  no  permanent  occupation  of  the  Church  by 


THE  SON  S  "prayer  AND  FATHERS  GIFT.    1  75 

the  Holy  Ghost.  No  doubt  there  is  often  a 
right  apprehension  of  the  Lord's  saying  in  such 
speech,  and  those  who  use  it  are  truly  resting 
on  the  promise.  But  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  the  belief  of  the  Church  needs  to  be  lifted 
to  the  height  which  has  been  set  before  us. 
God's  Spirit  is  not  a  visitor  of  the  Church.  He 
has  been  given  that  He  may  abide  by  it  for 
ever.  It  is  His  home.  We  do  not  require  to  ask 
for  a  grace  which  is  above  us  in  some  heaven,  or 
below  us  in  some  depth.  It  is  nigh  us,  even  in 
our  mouth  and  in  our  heart.  Times  of  special 
blessing  are  not  the  arrivals  of  a  stranger  ;  they 
are  the  tokens  of  one  who  is  amongst  us, — 
special  tokens  indicating  what  we  are  apt  to 
forget,  that  He  is  waiting  to  be  gracious,  that 
there  is  a  plenitude  of  good  which  we  are  not 
realizing,  only  because  men  are  not  opening  the 
door  of  their  hearts  to  Him,  and  because  God's 
faithful  people  are  not  vividly  and  earnestly 
welcoming,  and  working  in  the  consciousness  of, 
the  Holy  Ghost  who  has  been  shed  abroad. 
Oh,  Spirit  of  God  !  wilt  Thou  not  revive  us 
again  that  Thy  people  may  rejoice  in  Thee—  ps.  kxxv.  6. 
abiding  for  ever. 

And  with  this  is  connected  the  other  feature 
of  the  promise.  He  shall  be  in  you — an  inward,  ver.  17. 
spiritual  revelation  through  the  immaneiice,  the 
indwelling  of  the  Spirit.     The  two  last  clauses 
of  the  verse  have  been  accepted  as  corresponding 


I  76  THE  son's  traver  and  father's  gift. 

to  the  two  ideas  of  the  Comforter  and  the  Spirit 
of  Truth.  The  Comforter  shall  abide ;  the  Spirit 
shall  be  in  you.  For  this  is  the  characteristic  of 
the  Christian  state  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 
We  know  Christ  through  the  experience  of 
Christ.  We  see  Him  through  what  we  possess 
of  Him.  St  Paul  prays  that  his  brethren  may 
be  "strengthened  mightily  by  the  Spirit  in  the 
inner  man,  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  the  heart 

F.ph.  iii.  16,  by  faith."  The  Holy  Spirit  i]i  the  inner  man  is 
the  cause,  faith  is  the  welcome,  of  the  indwelling 
Christ.  It  is  observable  that  the  disciples  did 
not  know  Christ  until  they  had  ceased  to  see 
Him  ;  they  beheld  Him  only  when  He  had  gone 
in  the  bodily  presence,  and  come  in  the  Spirit 
who  had  entered  into  them.  In  the  shcwings  of 
Himself  during  the  forty  days  which  intervened 
between  the  resurrection  and  the  ascension,  after 
the  eyes  had  been  opened  to  recognise  Him,  He 
vanished  out  of  sight.  He  was  preparing  them 
for  the  vision  of  the  latter  days — the  vision  by 
faith  of  the  indwelling  Christ — "  He  passed  from 
His  hiding  place  of  sight  without  knowledge  to 

Newm.^n-8     tj-^^t  of  knowlcds^e  without  sicrht." 

Sermons 


\'o\.  vi.  p. 
144. 


Thus  the  great  promise  is  unfolded  Avhich 
pledges  that  the  eleven  now  seated  with  their 
Lord,  and  all  trusting  souls  then  or  since,  shall 
not  be  left  as  orphans  ;  that  although  the  Jesus 
whom  the  hands  have  handled  must  pass  from 
the    outward    gaze,  the   Jesus  in   whom    is  all 


A 


THE  SON  S  niAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT.    I  7  7 

the  soul's  salvation  and  desires  remains,  that 
"  yet  a  little  while "  and  although  the  world 
would  not  see  Him  they  would  see  Him.  He 
has  not  left  us  ;  He  has  gone  to  the  Father  only 
that  He  might  come  to  us.  In  the  days  of  His 
flesh  He  had  not  actually  come  as  the  Saviour 
and  Lord  manifesting  Himself  to  the  heart.  He 
did  thus  come  only  after  the  sacrifice  had  been 
offered  and  accepted,  and  "  the  new  and  living 
way"  had  been  opened.  Then,  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  eternal  life,  did  He  draw  near 
to,  has  He  established  Himself  in  the  midst  of, 
His  own.  He  is,  as  the  God-man,  the  "  High 
Priest  over  the  house  of  God,"  in  His  Humanity 
interceding  at  the  right  hand  of  God  for  us, 
and  administering  the  power  of  heaven  and 
earth.  He  is,  in  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  the  Com- 
forter sent  in  His  name  from  the  Father, 
still  with  us,  ever  with  us,  in  our  hearts  and 
to  our  faith.  And  we  are  sharers,  thus,  of 
His  own  nature — of  the  Divine  nature.  We  are 
partakers  of  His  life — the  life  of  Sonship.  It  is 
the  history  of  His  life  that  is  being  continually 
repeated  by  His  Church  and  in  the  believer; 
it  is  His  life,  in  all  that  is  essential  to  it,  in  all 
the  elements  of  its  divine  truth  and  beauty,  that 
is  received  and  fulfilled  in  character  and  in 
consciousness.  We  live  because  of  Him  ;  we 
live  out  of  Him.  In  Him  we  arc  partakers  of 
the  love  wherewith  He  is  loved  ;  and  He,  as 
M 


T  78  THE  son's  prayer  AND  FATIIER's  GIFT. 

the  loved  of  the   Father,   communicating  this 
Vers.  I2-I8.   love  to  mcn,  is  manifesting  Himself  to  us. 

But,  as  the  sweet  and  gracious  stream  of  assur- 
ance thuspours  forth, a  question  arises  inthe  mind 
ofone  of  the  disciples.  That  one  is  3^t(das.  Not 
Iscariot,  the  Evangelist  is  careful  to  add,  as  if  the 
mere  name  raised  up  the  protest  and  horror  of  his 
soul.  No  word  addressed  to  the  Lord  is  recorded 
ofthemanofKerioth.  Persons  such  as  he  have  little 
to  ask  of  God.  It  is  Judas  Lebbaeus — a.  cheerful, 
honest,  simple-hearted  inquirer  in  the  temple  of 
truth.  "Lord,  how  is  it,  or  what  has  come  to  pass, 
that  Thou  wilt  manifest  Thyself  to  us  and  not 
ver.  22.  to  the  world  .''  "  Still,  we  see,  a  stumbling  over 
the  notion  of  some  external  manifestation.  How 
could  there  be  such  a  manifestation  in  the 
special  and  private  way  which  the  Lord  had 
marked  .■*  Well,  Jesus,  bearing  patiently  with 
this  slowness  of  heart,  is  content  to  summarise 
the  words  which  He  has  already  spoken  ;  to 
repeat  that  the  condition  of  all  seeing  of  Him  is 
love  ;  that  the  corporeity  of  love,  so  to  speak,  is 
obedience  ;  that  this  obedience  is  the  prelude 
to,  the  preparation  for,  spiritual  blessing;  that 
the  highest  reality  of  spiritual  blessing  is  the 
consciousness  of  His  Father's  love  ;  that,  in  this 
love,  there  is  a  phiral  involved — it  is  the  love  of 
the  Triune  God  ;  that,  in  the  fulness  of  this 
love,  Father  and  Son  in  the  uniting  Spirit,  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  dwell  in  the  faithful  soul ;  that^ 


THE  SON  S  PRAYER  AND  FATHER  S  GIFT.    1  79 

thus  truly  and  verily,  God — Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost — comes  to  all  who  love  Christ  and 
makes  His  abode  with  them.  All  this,  at  that  Ver.  23. 
moment,  is  beyond  the  spiritual  grasp  of  Judas. 
But  it  is  sown  into  his  mind,  that  it  may  be 
fructified  when  the  Comforter  "  shall  teach  all 
things,  and  bring  all  things  to  the  remembrance, 
whatsoever  He  has  said  unto  His  own."  Ver.  26. 

It  is  indeed  a  marvellous  saying,  and  one 
which  is  passed  to  the  humblest  and  weakest 
of  the  disciples  of  Christ.  He  takes  the  most 
general  term  :  "  If  a  man  love  Me  we  Avill 
come  to  liiiii,  and  make  our  abode  with  ///;//," 
It  is  for  thee,  my  reader,  for  me,  for  every  one 
who  hears  and  responds  to  the  call  of  the 
Lord.  Within  the  breast  of  each  of  us  there 
may  dwell  the  majesty,  the  blessedness,  of  God. 
Ah,  what  is  the  place  which  we  can  make  ready 
for  Him  whom  "  the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of 
heavens  cannot  contain  " .?  Mark  the  sentence, 
"  We  ivill  make  our  abode.''  The  divine  love  Ver.  26. 
builds  its  own  house,  by  the  force  of  its  own 
gentleness,  in  our  rude,  rough,  unshapen  hearts. 
Not  a  tent,  not  a  mere  temporary  residence,  an 
abode,  a  home  ! — that  there  God  may  dwell,  His 
love  casting  out  our  fear,  overcoming  our  selfish- 
ness, and  subduing  all  things  to  itself.  Joy, 
indeed,  to  thee,  O  thou  lover  of  Christ,  who  art 
keeping  His  words !  In  the  gift  of  the  Father 
to  thee,  truly  thy  "  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  i  john  i.  3. 
and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ." 


XV. 

A   FAREWELL   GREETING. 
St  John  xiv.  25-31. 

"  Peace  I  leave  with  you." 

Ver.  25.  ^^ Being  yd  present'' — during  the  "  little  while  " 
of  His  abiding  with  the  disciples — the  Lord  had 
spoken  to  His  own.  But  the  spirit  and  life  of 
His  words  had  not  been  declared.  He  is  merely 
the  sower  sowing  the  good  seed.  The  awaken- 
ment  of  the  slumbering  germ,  the  growth  of  the 
divine  nature  begotten  by  means  of  the  word, 
the  "gathering  of  fruit  unto  life  eternal,"  is 
reserved  for  the  day  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus 
the  mutual  relation  and  office  of  the  Promiser 
and  the  Promised,  Jesus  and  the  other  Comforter, 
are    illustrated.     The    one    soweth,   the   other 

Chap.  iv.  36,  rcapeth  ;  sower  and  reaper  rejoice  together. 
There  is  a  beautiful  unselfishness,  I  think,  in 
the  scriptural  setting  forth  of  the  work  of  the 
Three  Persons  in  the  Godhead.  The  Father 
glorifies  the  Son  :  "  When  He  bringeth  in  the 
first-begotten  into  the  world,  He  saith,  And  let 


37 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING.  I  Si 

all  the  angels  of  God  worship  Him."   The  voice  Hebrews  i. 
out  of  the  cloud  proclaims  to  men,  "  This  is  My 
beloved  Son,  hear  Him."     The  Son  glorifies  the  M.ii-k  ix.  7. 
Father:    "He  doeth  nothing   of   Himself,  but 
what    He   seeth   the    Father   do."      The   Holy  chap.  v.  19. 
Spirit  manifests  the  love  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son.     He  loses  Himself  in  the  glory  of  Christ. 
He  is  as  "  the   Friend   of  the   Bridegroom  who 
standeth    and    heareth    him,    rejoicing    greatly 
because  of  the   Bridegroom's  voice."     Christ  is  chap.  iii.  29. 
the  Truth  ;  He  is  the  Spirit  of  Truth.     Christ 
is  the  Word  ;  He  is  the  Expositor.    Christ  is  the 
Light ;    He  is  the   Illuminator.     Christ  is  the 
Speaker  ;  He  is  the  Teacher.    Apart  from  Christ 
there  is  no  revelation.     Apart  from  the  Blessed 
Spirit  there  is  no  enlightenment.     As  the  Latin 
Father  has  well  observed,  "  We  take  the  words 
from   Christ  Avho  speaks  ;    we  understand  the 
same  words  by  the  Spirit  who  teaches."  Augustine. 

So  is  it  in  Christian  experience.  In  regard 
to  all  knowledge,  indeed,  we  can  distinguish  be- 
tween the  word-speaking  and  the  word-teaching. 
The  material  is  provided  ;  laid  in  order  and 
made  ready  for  the  quickening.  The  germs  are 
implanted,  but  they  must  be  awakened,  and 
kindled  into  living  consciousness.  In  every 
science,  in  all  literature,  there  is  an  Eureka — a 
moment  when,  through  the  purging  of  the 
inward  vision,  the  inner  truths,  the  import  and 
significance  of  things,  are  discerned,  and  what 


I  82  A  FAREWELL  GREETING. 

was  hitherto  merely  objective  to  the  soul 
becomes  its  possession  and  its  joy.  And  thus 
likewise  as  to  spiritual  verities.  We  may  have 
them,  in  their  due  proportion  and  arrangement, 
"  bone  to  his  bone,  the  sinews  and  the  flesh  upon 
them,  and  the  skin  covering  them  above,  but  no 

Ezekiei  breath  in  them."  The  breath  is  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  His  the  inflatus  by  which  thought 
is  moved,  and  affection  is  stirred,  and  the  cor- 
respondence between  the  word  and  the  soul's 
need  is  discerned.     "One   thing   I   know,  that, 

Chap.  ix.  25.  ivJiereas  I  zvas  blind,  nozv  I  sec." 

Let  us  observe  the  scope  of  the  second  refer- 
ence to  the  Comforter  in  the  last  discourse  of 
our  Lord.  Two  things  are  noticeable — tJie 
designation  and  the  fnnction. 

Here,  and  here  only,  He  is  named  the  Holy 

Ver.  26.  Ghost.  In  the  other  passages  which  announce 
His  advent  He  is  described  as  the  Spirit  of 
Truth.  With  this,  which  relates  to  the  personal 
reception  and  recollection  of  Christ's  sayings,  is 
associated  the  quality  of  holiness.  Farther,  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  holiness  is  predicated  of  Him 
when  the  special  assurance  is  added,  "  The  Father 
will  send  Him  in  My  name."  He  is  to  be  the 
representative  of  the  Holy  One,  the  sent  and 
separated  of  God.  And  the  element  of  His 
2V/-dwelling  is  the  same  as  the  element  of  Christ's 
with-dwQWmg.  There  is  no  realisation  of  Christ, 
and  no  knowledge  of  Christ,  except  in  holiness  ; 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING.  I  83 

spiritual  sight  is  possible  only  to  the  soul 
fashioned  according  to  the  Christly  pattern. 
An  old  English  writer  well  remarks :  "  As  the 
eye  cannot  behold  the  sun  unless  it  be  sunlike, 
and  hath  the  form  and  resemblance  of  the  sun 
drawn  in  it,  so  neither  can  the  soul  of  man 
behold  God  unless  it  be  godlike — hath  God 
formed  in  it,  and  be  made  partaker  of  the  divine 
nature.  The  knowledge  of  divinity  that  appears 
in  systems  and  models  is  but  a  poor  wan  light  ; 
but  the  powerful  energy  of  divine  knowledge  john  Smuh 
displays  itself  in  purified  souls  ;  here  we  find  mi^he''"'^''^ 
the  land  of  truth."  S,?:ig'to 

As  the  Expositor  of  the  words  of  Christ,  this  Knowledge 
Holy  Spirit's  function  is  parted  into  two  in  the  '"'"'°" '' 
saying  concerning  Him  :  ''  He  shall  teach  you  allYer.26. 
things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance, 
whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  youT  Yet  we  must 
not  divide  the  two  parts.  They  have  a  common 
reference,  "whatsoever  I  have  said."  The 
teaching  here  does  not  point  to  additional  de- 
velopments of  truth,  to  words  besides,  or  revela- 
tions beyond,  the  words  which  Christ  has  spoken. 
It  stands  for  the  opening  up  of  Christ's  mind,  as 
contained  implicitly  in  or  declared  explicitly  by 
His  words.  It  is  the  leading  of  thought  into  the 
full  significance  and  consciousness  of  the  Incar- 
nate Son  of  God,  who  is  in  the  Father  and  in 
whom  the  Father  is.  And  this  is  done  by 
recalling  the  words,  by  reproducing  them  in  the 


184  A  FAREWELL  GREETING. 

memory,  and  drawing  forth  their  spiritual  force 
and  power.  On  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  as 
to  the  sufficiency  of  this  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  Ave  base  our  reception  of  the  Gospels  and 
Epistles  of  the  New  Testament.  His  all  tilings 
"  must  not,  indeed,  be  extended  to  all  conceiv- 
oishausen.  able  minutifc ; "  nor  does  it  assert  that  the 
apostles,  individually,  recollected  and  discerned 
the  full  meaning  of  c?// that  Christ  did  and  spoke; 
but  it  is  equivalent  to  a  pledge  that  the  apostles 
conjunctly  and  personally  would  be  so  actuated 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  as  that  a  true,  adequate,  and 
full  interpretation  of  Himself,  in  His  character, 
glory,  grace,  and  truth,  would  be  given,  through 
them,  to  the  Church. 

And  it  is  permitted  us  thankfully  to  believe 
that,  when  Jesus  says  "  He  shall  teach  you^'  He 
is  not  isolating  the  eleven  seated  around  Him  ; 
that,  although  in  them  His  assurance  was  first 
and  most  signally  fulfilled,  they  were  "the 
first  fruits  "  of  a  harvest  of  renewed  and  illu- 
minated souls.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  still  with 
the  Church,  teaching  the  things  which  Christ 
has  spoken,  and  leading  into  further  and  fuller 
discoveries  of  their  preciousncss.  We  have 
not  yet  attained,  neither  are  we  perfect. 
The  Church  is  only  yet  learning  her  primer. 
Who  can  set  any  limits  to  the  potencies  of 
the  development  and  application  of  Christian 
truth .''     Oh,  how  large,  and   broad,  and   deep. 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING.  I  85 

and  high  is  the  thought,  Christ  the  Truth ! 
Where  is  the  measure  for  the  "  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ "  ?  Blessed  be  Eph-  v. , 
God,  the  Holy  Spirit  has  not  been  withdrawn ! 
In  ministries  and  ordinances  He  is  the  Teacher, 
He  is  the  Reminder.  If  our  ministries  and 
ordinances  were  only  more  complete,  and  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  grace  and  supplications,  how 
much  more  distinct  would  His  teaching  be. 
Let  us  yield  our  hearts  to  the  conviction  that 
this  Comforter  has  yet  many  things  to  say,  that 
He  is  bidding  our  faith  upwards  and  forwards  to 
greater  things.  All  truth  was  not  compressed 
in  statements  and  formularies  of  the  past.  The 
new  ever  grows  out  of  and  completes  the  old  ; 
but  there  is  a  Jiezv,  and  there  will  be  an  ever 
newer  and  newer.  The  inheritance  is  ever  en- 
larging ;  new  light  on  Christ's  words  ;  new  sight 
into  the  pastures  for  thought  that  are  hidden  in 
these  words ;  new  anointings  of  holiness ;  new 
revelations  of  the  living  Christ  Himself.  Always 
prophetic,  always  speaking  of  what  is  to  be, 
this  saying  is  the  pledge  of  a  divine  teacher 
ever  teaching  the  disciple  — "  the  Spirit  of 
wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  the  ^ph.  i.  17. 
Lord." 


"  And  now,  Lord,  what  wait  I  for  1  my  hope  P; 
is  in  Thee."  In  this  wise  may  we  conceive  the  ^' 
soul  of  Christ  ascending  to  the  Father.     He  has 


salm  xxxix. 


Isaiah  xxv. 
4- 


I  86  A  FAREWELL  GREETING. 

given  the  promise;  He  has  provided  for  the 
wants  of  His  little  children.  All  has  been 
pledged  to  them  in  the  great  words  concern- 
ing the  Comforter.  May  He  not,  without 
farther  speech,  bestow  His  last  benediction,  and 
take  the  way,  through  suffering  and  death,  to 
the  glory  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Eternal  ? 

"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  My  peace  I  give  unto 
you :  not  as  the  ivorld  giveth,  give  I  unto  you. 
Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled^  neither  let  it  be 
afraid  y 

This  is  a  farewell  greeting — a  greeting  which 
has  respect  to  the  usual  salutation  at  the  coming 
and  going  of  guests — but  which,  in  the  hands  of 
Him  who  makes  all  things  new,  is  a  blessing 
peculiarly  and  only  His.  And  every  clause  of 
the  saying  is  charged  with  suggestive  thought. 
The  Saviour  leaves  peace.  He,  in  the  body, 
must  go,  but  this  remains.  It  is  His  gospel. 
He  has  nothing  better  to  bequeath  to  His  little 
children.  For  it  is  not  a  peace — an  ordinary 
condition  of  thriving  which  He  marks  out — the 
addition  is,  "  My  peace,''  that  which  is  emphati- 
cally His  own — in  the  right  of  His  Being  as  the 
Son  of  God,  in  the  truth  of  His  possession  as 
the  Man  according  to  God's  own  heart.  Had 
they  not  felt  the  majesty  of  His  calm  }  Had 
they  not  seen  that,  amidst  all  sorts  of  disquieting 
things,  "  when  the  blast  of  the  terrible  ones  was 
as  a  storm  against  the  wall ; "  and  now,  in  the 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING.  I  87 

immediate  prospect  of  the  death  of  which  He 
had  told  them,  He  was  "in  perfect  peace,"  His  isaiah x.wi. 
heart  fixed  so  that  it  could  not  be  moved  ? 
Such  is  the  peace  that  He  leaves  with  them. 
Ah,  His  followers  know  its  secret.  They  know 
that  it  keeps  the  heart  and  mind,  because  its 
root  is  a  perfect,  unbounded,  trust  in  the  Father  ; 
because  the  soul  is  occupied  with  the  Father — 
the  Father  that  centre  which  self,  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  worldly,  is ;  because  desire 
and  purpose  dwell  in  a  region  above  all  that 
speaks  of  turmoil  and  strife,  and  the  energy 
is  fed  from  springs  whose  source  is  other  and 
higher  than  the  world.  He  leaves.  Yes  ;  He 
gives  this  peace  to  all  who  trust  Him.  In  them 
it  represents  a  great  spiritual  deliverance — 
deliverance  from  the  guilt  and  bondage  of  sin, 
from  all  that  alienates  the  life,  in  its  main 
tendencies,  from  the  Father.  A  threefold  grace  : 
"  peace  with  God  by  the  pardon  of  sin  ;  peace 
with  themselves  by  the  answer  of  a  good  con- 
science ;  peace  with  one  another  by  mutual  Bishop 
charity."  All  needful  for  this  grace  He  has  sermoiTon 
secured,  is  securing,  by  the  sacrifice  of  Him- ^^'^'^^"^^'^' 
self.  Pointing  to  the  blood  shed  for  many, 
and  reminding  of  the  prayer  for  the  Com- 
forter, He  can  say — I  am  giving  it.  Not  as  the 
world  is  wont  to  give.  It  identifies  peace  with 
outward  befallings ;  it  seeks  first  some  good 
in  condition,  and  then  looks  for  peace  ;  it  hews 


I  88  A  FAREWELL  GREETING. 

out  some  broken  cistern,  and  says,  Drink,  and 
the  soul  drinks  only  to  thirst  again ;  it  gives 
its  best  at  the  beginning ;  soon  the  appetite 
goes,  or  if  it  remains,  the  power  of  satisfy- 
ing it  diminishes,  and  it  becomes  only  a  pain 
and  bitterness  ;  its  amusements  end  with  being 
toils  ;  its  pleasures  end  with  being  scourges.  Not 
thus  with  this  loving  Lord.  The  good  to  which 
He  directs  is  the  Eternal.  The  source  of  supply 
which  He  opens,  is  a  well  of  water  in  the  life 
itself,  springing  up  into  everlasting  blessedness. 
The  joy  He  imparts  is  a  sovereign  energy  of 
goodness  and  love.  He  carries  beyond  what 
is  transient  and  fleeting,  because  He  unites  to 
Himself  at  whose  right  hand  are  pleasures  for 
evermore.  Ah,  yes.  He  has  a  rule  and  a  measure 
of  His  own  in  giving.  But  the  giving  is  so  royal, 
the  gift  so  great,  that — no  matter  what  the 
bereavement  of  the  heart — there  is  a  voice 
behind  sounding  in  the  ear,  "Let  not  your  heart 
be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid," 

Thus  the  quaint  Gurnall  has  paraphrased  the 
sentence  of  Christ.  "  He  is  both  the  testator  to 
leave,  and  the  executor  to  give  out  of  His  own 
hands  what  His  love  has  left  to  believers;  so 
that  there  is  no  fear  but  that  His  will  shall  be 
performed  to  the  full,  seeing  He  Himself  lives 
to  see  it  done.  Not  as  the  ivorld  givetJi.  The 
peace  I  leave  with  you  is  not  in  your  houses,  but 
in  your  hearts.     The  comfort  I  give  you  lies  not 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING.  I  89 

in  gold  and  silver,  but  in  pardon  of  sin,  hopes  of 

glory,  and  inward  consolations,  and  these  shall 

outlive  all  the  world's  joy.    Many  a  dying  father 

hath,  in  a  farewell  speech  to  his  children,  wished 

them  all  peace  and  comfort  when  he  should  be 

dead  and  gone  ;  but  who  besides  Jesus  Christ 

could   send  a  comforter  into   their  hearts,  and 

lodge  peace  and  comfort  in  their  bosoms."  The  chris- 

tian Armour 

chap.  i.\. 

Great  and  precious,  in  truth,  is  the  promise,  '^''"°"  ^" 
the  legacy,  of  Jesus  to  His  own.  But  their 
countenances  still  are  clouded.  All  His  assur- 
ances cannot  dispel  their  gloom.  They  are 
brooding,  and  they  keep  brooding,  heavily  over 
the  future  before  them.  The  Lord,  for  an 
instant,  shifts  His  ground.  Why  should  they 
think  only  of  themselves  ?  Are  they  strangers 
to  the  unselfishness  of  love  .''  Do  they  love  Him  ? 
Will  they  not  then  rejoice  when  He  tells  them 
that  He  is  going  to  His  Father — to  an  increase 
and  elevation  of  bliss  :  "  For  Mj'  Father  is 
greater  than  /"?  Ver. 2s 

Men  have  been  puzzled  over  this  sentence  as 
to  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Why  should  they 
be  so }  "  In  the  very  name  of  Father  there  is 
something  of  eminence  which  is  not  in  that  of 
Son  ;  and  some  kind  of  priority  we  must  ascribe 
unto  Him  whom  we  call  the  First  in  respect  of 
Him  whom  we  term  the  Second  Person  ;  and,  as 


igo 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING. 


Pearson  on 
the  Creed, 
Art  i. 


Ver.  29. 


Ver.  30. 


Olshaiiscn. 


we  cannot  but  ascribe  it,  so  we  must  endeavour 
to  preserve  it."  The  Son  looks  up — acknowledges 
the  subordination  which  does  not  imply  differ- 
ence of  nature — and  appeals  to  those  who  love 
Him  to  forget  their  own  sorrow,  to  cease  from 
continual  self-contemplation,  and  rejoice  with 
Him  in  His  joy.  Nor  is  it  wholly  for  Himself — 
although  that  consideration  is  made  prominent. 
In  His  passing  to  the  Father's  right  hand, 
the  accepted  and  glorified  God-man,  His 
mission  shall  be  accomplished.  His  Church 
shall  be  raised  and  glorified  also,  and  the 
blessings  represented  in  the  Father's  answer 
to  His  prayer  for  the  Comforter  shall  be 
realised. 

But  the  Lord  must  hasten.  The  separation 
is  soon  to  be.  He  announces  it  beforehand  ; 
He  prepares  the  minds  of  His  little  flock,  that 
their  confidence  in  Him  may  not  be  shaken, 
that  they  may  be  assured  of  the  unbroken 
unity,  He  in  them  and  they  in  Him.  The 
final  conflict  with  the  Prince  of  this  world  is  at 
hand.  "As  he  approached  the  Redeemer  at 
the  commencement  of  His  ministry  and  tempted 
Him  with  the  snare  of  pleasure,  so  now,  at  the 
end  of  His  work.  He  appears  and  tempts  Him 
by  means  oi  feavT  But  in  vain.  The  will  is 
steadfast  in  obedience.  The  world-Prince  has 
nothing  in  the  tempted  Son  of  God.  In  token 
of  the  Son's  dutiful  love  He  now  binds  Himself, 


A  FAREWELL  GREETING.  I9I 

as  it  were,  with  cords  on  the  altar.  He  offers 
Himself  in  sacrifice  to  be  and  to  bear  as  the 
Father  gave  Him  commandment.  For  Himself 
and  His  own  the  sentence  must  be  uttered : 

"Arise,  and  let  us  go  hence.''  ^'^'''  ^'" 


XVI. 

THE  DISCOURSE  RESUMED — THE  VINE  AND 
THE  BRANCHES. 

St  John  xv.  i-ii. 

"Abide." 

Between  the  final  word  of  the  previous  chap- 
ter and  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth,  we  may 
Matt.  xxvi.  insert  the  singing  of  the  hymn  which,  as  two  of 
MaikxLv.26.  the  EvangeHsts  inform  us,  preceded  the  de- 
parture to  the  Mount  of  Olives.  The  Passover- 
meal  was  frequently,  if  not  always,  concluded 
with  the  recitation  of  the  Great  Hallel  or 
some  other  sacred  hymn.  And  the  moment 
appropriate  to  the  farewell  song  was  that  im- 
mediately after  all  had  arisen  in  preparation  for 
going  thence.  But  how  could  the  members  of 
that  company,  so  soon  to  be  bereaved,  join  with 
heart-felt  gratitude  and  joy  in  the  refrain,  "O 
give  thanks  unto  the  Lord  for  He  is  good,  for 
Ps  c.Nxxvi.  I.  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever"  }  The  signal  to 
depart  rang  on  their  souls  like  the  knell  of 
doom.     Hitherto  they  had  been  a  flock,  small 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.         I93 

but  united.  So  long  as  their  Master  was  with 
them  they  had  both  a  leader  and  a  home ; 
His  removal  will  scatter  them,  and  send  them 
back  into  the  world  disappointed,  lonely,  home- 
less. He  who  read  the  thoughts  of  their  hearts 
knew  the  reason  of  the  saddened  countenance 
and  the  muffled  song.  And  His  '■^ let  us  go^' 
must  be  supplemented  by  another  note.  The 
series  of  utterances  which  follows  is  the 
unfolding  of  the  sentence  '^  Abide  m  Me."  Is 
not  this  the  twofold  idea  of  the  Christian  life 
— movement,  conflict,  trial  in  the  outer  world  ; 
rest,  peace,  the  home  of  the  soul  in  Christ 
Himself.'' 

Where  the  latter  portion  of  the  Lord's  dis- 
course was  spoken  we  cannot  determine.  The 
natural  interpretation  of  the  narrative  is  that  it 
was  spoken  either  on  the  way  to  the  brook 
Kedron,  or  at  some  spot  more  or  less  distant 
from  the  upper  room.  And  the  difference  be- 
tween it  and  the  former  address  of  the  Lord 
bears  out  the  conception  of  a  different  scene — 
one  in  which  the  mind  is  brought  more  directly 
into  contact  with  external  things,  and  the  im- 
pression of  the  hostile  external  world  is  more 
vividly  formed.  Those  who  insist  that  there 
was  always  a  special  occasion  for  the  similitudes 
and  parables  of  Christ  suggest  various  circum- 
stances as  the  ground-work  of  the  similitude 
with  which  the  resumed  speech  begins  Such 
N 


194        I^HE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 

as :  the  vineyards  which  the  httle  company 
must  have  skirted  on  their  path,  hghted  by  the 

Storr.  moon  then  fully  shining ;  the  fires  which,  at  the 

time  of  the  Passover  celebration,  were  kindled 
for  the  burning  of  the  offal  of  the  sacrifices  and 

Lange.  the  cut  off  branclics  of  the  vine  ;  the  great  vine, 
described  by  Josephus,  spread  on  the  door  of 
the  Temple,  its  branches  and  leaves  of  gold  and 
its  clusters  of  diamonds  and  pearls,  viewed  by 
the  Lord  who  had  made  a  detotiv  to  the  Temple, 
or  from  a  point  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 

Rosen-         city  gate. 

muUer.  •'    "^ 

Setting  such  imaginations  aside,  the  words 
related  by  St  John  may,  consistently  with  pro- 
babilities, have  been  uttered  in  the  open  air, 
at    a    place   a   little   way   removed    from    the 

ch«p.  xviii.  crowd.  The  "going  forth  over  the  brook," 
mentioned  in  the  eighteenth  chapter,  may  refer, 
not  to  the  quitting  of  the  house  in  which  the 
feast  had  been  held,  but  to  the  passing  through 
the  gate,  afterwards  called  St  Stephens,  to  the 
declivity  at  whose  base  the  Kedron  ran.  And 
it  may  be  noticed  that  the  lifting  up  of  the  eyes 

Chap.  xvii.  I.  to  heaven,  which  immediately  preceded  the 
prayer,  seems  more  in  consonance  with  the 
elevation  of  the  gaze  to  the  "spangled  heavens" 
than  the  mere  upward  glance  in  the  room  at 
Jerusalem. 

It  is  right,  however,  to  state  that  another 
opinion    has    obtained    the    warm    support    of 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.         1 95 

expositors   such  as    Stier,   Olshausen,   EUicott, 
and  Alford.      "  We  can   hardly  suppose,"  it  is 
argued,  "  that  discourses  Hke  those  set  before  us 
could  have  been  delivered  to  as  many  as  eleven 
persons  walking  by  the  way,  and  at  a  time  of 
such  publicity  as  the  Paschal  feast."     The  sup-  Aifords* 
position    is    that    the    prospect    of    separation  on  srjohn7 
"  arrested  the  steps   of  the  disciples ;   the  as- '""' 
sembly  broke   up    but   no    one   moved.      And 
then  it  was  that  He  again  opened  His   lips." 
A    twig,    perchance,    "  stretched    through    the 
window  into  the  room,  or  the  apartment  was 
decorated  with  the  foliage  of  the  vine," — hence  oishausen. 
the  mould  into  which  the  renewed  speech  was 
cast. 

My  readers  will  agree  that  the  time  and 
surroundings  of  the  discourse  are  of  subordinate 
interest.  The  revelation  of  love  made  in  it  is 
the  matter  which  engrosses  our  attention. 
What  was  the  need  of  particular  incident  or 
prospect  for  the  suggestion  of  theme  and  illus- 
tration to  the  Lord  ?  Had  He  not  been  speak- 
ing already  of  "  t/ie  fruit  of  the  vine  "  ?  Had 
He  not  passed  the  cup  filled  with  this  fruit  as 
the  New  Testament  in  His  blood .-'  Was  not 
the  vine  one  of  the  great  Old  Testament  em- 
blems, occupying  a  chief  place  in  the  circle  of 
prophetic  symbols  ?  Was  it  not  a  specially 
fitting  correspondent  in  the  material  universe 
for  the  truth  He  desired  to  enforce — the  truth 


196        THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 

of  a  spiritual  organism  in  which  He  and  His 
are  for  ever  one  ?  In  the  treasury  of  Jesus' 
mind,  doubtless,  the  comparison  which  He  in- 
stitutes was  among  the  things  both  old  and 
new, — old,  because  the  expression  of  reality, 
new,  because  so  elastic  as  to  admit  of  ever 
fresh  applications, — which  lay  ready  for  His 
command  when  the  opportunity  called  it  forth. 
The  opportunity  had  come  ;  and  the  great  and 
precious  interpretation  of  the  prophetic  hiero- 
glyph is  presented.  May  we  discern  a  part 
at  least  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  ! 

The  subject  of  the  earlier  address  was  chiefly 
Christ  in  His  relation  to  the  Father — the 
Trinity  of  the  Divine  Being  in  Him  to  be 
manifested  to  His  own  in  the  other  Comforter 
whom  the  Father  would  send.  The  subject  of 
the  address  which  now  begins  is  chiefly  Christ 
in  His  relation  to  His  Church;  the  nature  of 
this  relation ;  the  antagonism  between  those 
whom  it  embraces  and  the  world ;  the  help 
ministered  by  it  against  such  antagonism  ;  and 
the  final  victory  and  joy  which  it  pledges. 
When  these  things  have  been  declared,  there 
comes  forth  from  the  inmost  consciousness  of 
Jesus  that  sublime  conference  with  the  Father 
which  consummates  the  ministry  of  the  suffer- 
ing love  of  the  Son  of  God  on  the  earth. 

Thus  the  address  begins  : — - 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.         1 97 

" / am  the  true  vine"  We  have  already  re-  ver. i. 
ferred  to  the  spiritual  suggestiveness  of  the 
vine.  Unsightly  in  stock,  "with  no  form  or 
comeliness,"  it  spreads  its  foliage.  Wonderfully 
vital,  giving  man  the  most  rich  and  generous  of 
fruits,  yet  requiring  the  constant  skill  and  care 
of  the  gardener, — it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  this  tree  and  the  place  of  its  cultivation, 
the  vineyard,  should  in  scripture  use  denote  the 
People  specially  planted  by  God  in  the  soil 
of  earth  as  the  repository  of  His  covenant  and 
the  sign  of  His  kingdom  to  the  nations.  Israel 
according  to  the  flesh  is  described  by  the  Pro- 
phets as  "the  choice  vine  on  the  very  fruitful  isaiah v. i, 2. 
hill,"  the  vine  which  "  brought  forth  branches  Ezekiei  xix. 
and  shot  forth  sprigs,"  "  the  son  of  man  whom  ^kxm  ixxx. 
the  Lord  had  made  strong  for  Himself.''  Now,  '''' 
Christ,  transferring  to  His  own  person  all  ex- 
pressed in  this  figure,  all  of  which  the  "  crown 
of  the  herbs  of  the  field,"  as  a  figure  of  the 
Church,  can  speak  to  the  heart,  uses  an  adjective 
whose  meaning  must  not  be  overlooked.  "  The 
true  vine."  The  student  of  the  New  Testament 
will  observe  that  in  the  Gospel  of  St  John  this 
adjective — a  fuller  one  than  another  Greek  word 
also  translated  true — occurs  no  less  than  twenty- 
two  times.  And  the  comparison  of  the  passages 
will  show  that  "  the  antithesis  cannot  lie  be- 
tween the  false  and  the  true,  but  only  between 
the  imperfect  and  the  perfect,  the  shadowy  and 


198        THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 


Trench 
Synonyms, 
section  8. 


the  substantial."  To  recur,  for  example,  to 
Israel,  Christ  does  not  deny  that  it  was  a  vine 
of  God's  planting  ;  the  assertion  is  that  in  Him 
alone  the  truth  of  the  vine — the  blessing  which 
it  yields  in  its  clusters  of  grapes  and  its  wine 
when  the  grapes  are  bruised — is  realized  to 
the  full.  "Whatever  the  name  imports,  taken 
in  its  highest,  deepest,  widest  sense,  whatever 
according  to  that  the  vine  ought  to  be,  that 
Christ  fully  is."  He  is  "  made  of  God  to  us 
wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification, 
iCor. i.  30.  and  redemption."  He  is  "the  trunk-root  and 
stem  of  the  kingdom  of  love."  In  Him — the 
Word  Incarnate,  the  man  according  to  God's 
own  heart — is  the  life  of  which  all  the  branches 
receive. 

"  And  My  Father  is  the  Husbandman!'  Not 
the  mere  vine-dresser ;  the  owner  and  pro- 
prietor as  well.  Did  not  the  Son  come  forth 
from  the  Father }  But  the  cultivator,  the 
dresser  of  the  vine  also.  The  word  of  St  Paul 
just  quoted  is  the  sign  of  the  Husbandman- 
care  in  regard  to  Christ  Himself.  "  He  was 
made  of  God  unto  us."  There  was  a  disciplin- 
ing, a  dealing  with  the  Son  in  the  flesh,  needed 
to  the  perfecting  of  Him  as  the  cause  of  eternal 
salvation.  "Though  He  were  a  Son,  yet  learned 
He  obedience  by  the  things  which  He  suffered." 
And  still  the  Church  which  is  Christ's  body  is 
under  the  care  of  the  Father.     The  Holy  Ghost 


Ver, 


Hebrews  v 
8. 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.         1 99 

is  the  promise  of  the  Father.  In  Him  the 
culture  of  the  Divine  Fatherhood  is  realized, 
The  promise  is  made  good,  "  I,  the  Lord,  do 
keep  the  vineyard.  I  will  water  it  every 
moment ;  lest  any  hurt  it,  I  will  keep  it  night  ^^aiah  xxvii 
and  day."  And  when  we  reflect  on  particular 
branches — on  the  work  of  the  husbandman, 
as  he  scans  every  sprig  and  shoot  and  cluster- 
is  not  the  assurance  of  our  Lord  one  of 
comfort  as  well  as  instruction  ?  My  Father ; 
there  is  the  mark  of  identification.  The  Father 
of  Jesus,  whom  Jesus  has  revealed,  to  whom 
Jesus  lifted  His  eyes— He  it  is,  O  Christian, 
who  keeps  to  Himself  the  pruning-knife.  Dost 
thou  suffer.?  His  hand  is  in  thy  suffering. 
His  heart  is  with  thee.  His  watchfulness  is 
ordering  all.  He  has  a  purpose  in  all,  and  that 
purpose  will  be  accomplished.  "  O  what  a  cross 
to  have  no  cross  !"  No  cross  were  the  sign  that  Augustine 
there  is  no  husbandman.  on  Amos  iii. 

Now,  the  point  of  the  Lord's  exhortation  is, 
that  these  poor  disciples  who  think  only  of  His 
leaving  them,  that  all  who  "  believe  in  God  and 
believe  also  in  Him,"  are  component  parts  of 
the  vine  which  the  Eternal  Father  husbands. 
The  tree  is  not  the  stem  only,  it  is  the  stem  and 
the  branches.  Christ,  the  vine  is  not  merely 
His  person,  it  is  His  person  and  His  Church. 
All  who  are  spiritually  afiianced  to   Him   are 


200        THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 

truly  parts  of  Himself,  "  members  of  His  body, 
Eph.  V.  30.  His  flesh,  and  His  bones."  What  would  a  vine 
mean  without  branches  ?  What  would  a  body 
be  without  members  and  organs  ?  In  the  most 
emphatic  way  the  Lord  thus  assures  His  own 
that  they  are  inseparable  from  Him  ;  that  the 
parting  which  is  near,  however  painful,  cannot 
break  the  continuity  of  a  relation  which  is  not 
one  of  mere  sympathy,  but  is  one  of  life.  The 
one  life  animates  the  tree.  It  is  not  in  any 
branch  apart  from  another  branch ;  the  branches 
have  it  because  of  their  incorporation  into  the 
stem,  and  because,  with  the  stem,  they  are  the 
tree.  TJiey  live  in  Him,  out  of  Him.  He  has 
joined  them  to  Himself.  Let  them  realize  the 
truth  of  this  vital  incorporative  union  :  "/  mil 
ver.  5.  ■      tJie  vine,  ye  are  the  brandies y 

Thus,  reminding  them  of  their  position, 
Christ  bids  the  disciples  continue  where  they 
already  are,  that  they  may  receive  the  blessed- 
ness prepared  for  them — "Abide  in  Me  and 
Ver. 4.  /  ift  yoUy'  or,  as  we  might  otherwise  render 
it,  '*  Live  your  life  in  Me  and  I  shall  live 
My  life  in  you."  Truly,  a  noticeable  sentence ! 
Let  us  observe  /loiv  it  is  enforced  and  lu/iat  it 
implies. 

It  is  enforced  by  the  consideration  of  utter 
powerlessness  apart  from  Christ.  What  pith 
has  the  branch  in  itself.-'     Can  it  be  the  source 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.         20I 

of  its  own  life  and  energy  ?  As  little  can  the 
individual  be  a  fountain  to  himself.  All  vital 
power  is  in  God.  "  What  we  have  from  God," 
says  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  "we  cannot  keep 
without  God."  It  is  universally  true  that  all 
real  disciple-force  is  derived  from  the  Living 
Word.  "If  it  be  said,  it  is  not  all  acting, 
absolutely,  but  only  what  is  good  that  is  im- 
possible, still  it  must  be  confessed  that  only 
that  which  is  good  is  real,  while  what  is  evil  is  oishausen. 
futile."  To  forget  this,  or  to  act  as  if  we  were 
complete  in  ourselves,  is  to  lose  power.  ^' Apart  Ver.  s. 
fro7n  Ale  ye  can  do  ?iothing" 

Nay,  to  make  the  assertion  still  more  emphatic, 
we  are  reminded  of  the  work  of  the  husbandman. 
Do  we  not  see  him  removing  all  in  the  tree 
which  tends  to  mere  leaf  and  wood  ^  Not  prun- 
ing but  lopping  off  the  branch  which  is  not 
fulfilling  the  function  of  life.  What  is  done 
with  such  a  branch  }  Simply  cast  into  the  fire. 
Depend  upon  it,  says  the  Lord,  that  there  is  an 
analogous  dealing  with  men  spiritually — that 
those  who  will  live  from  themselves,  not  from  the 
eternal  truth  and  love  of  God,  shall  be  cast  forth 
and  regarded  as  amongst  the  withered  things  Ver.  6. 
whose  end  is  to  be  burned. 

The  abiding  insisted  on  implies  the  realisation 
of  this  dependence  of  the  branch  on  the  tree,  the 
conscious  and  willing  reception  of  the  life  which 
passes  from  the  root-stem  into  every  vital  portion 


202         THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 

of  the  organism.  Because  the  branches  are 
human  souls,  the  co-operation  of  will  in  each 
branch  is  demanded.  The  permanence  of  the 
union,  the  experience  of  the  life-giving  power  of 
the  Lord,  is  dependent  on  the  action  of  the  will. 
What  is  a  promise  is  also  a  condition :  "  Take 
heed  to  abide  in  Me  in  order  that  I  may  abide 
in  you,  that,  as  a  little  ago  I  pledged,  I  may 
come  to  you,  and  live  within  you  in  the  Comfor- 
ter, even  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  sentence  immediately  preceding  this 
charge  has,  in  connection  with  it,  a  special  force. 
Christ  testifies  that  the  disciples  are  already 
"clean  because  of  the  word  luhich  He  lias 
Ver.  3.  spoken  to  themr  The  ivord,  in  the  use  of  the 
third  verse,  denotes  all  the  teaching,  indeed  the 
ministry,  of  the  Lord  which  had  encompassed 
the  eleven.  They  had  dwelt  in  it.  It  had  been 
the  means  of  elevating  their  desires,  of  giving  a 
new  direction  to  their  activity,  a  new  character 
to  all  their  aims.  They  were  still  foolish  and 
slow  to  believe.  But,  so  far  at  least,  the  thoughts 
of  their  hearts  had  been  cleansed  ;  and  He  calls 
them  to  yield  themselves  more  and  more  to  the 
influence  of  that  word,  illumined  as  it  would  be 
by  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  to  find  in  it  always  the 
meeting-place  between  Him  and  them.  It  is 
in  the  word  "  dwelling  richly  in  the  heart "  that 
the  mutual  abiding  of  Christ  and  the  believer 
is  evermore  accomplished. 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.         203 

This  can  be  readily  understood.  Most  of  us 
have  known,  at  least  have  heard  of,  some  person 
as  to  whose  goodness  and  truth  there  could  be 
no  doubt — "  whose  mere  presence  has  shamed 
the  bad,  and  made  the  good  better,  and  been 
felt  at  times  like  the  presence  of  God  Himself."  p"6j"°'"° 
Some  of  my  readers  may  have  been  brought 
into  familiar  intercourse  Avith  one  thus  minded, 
one  who,  in  clearness  of  apprehension,  purity  of 
heart,  a  certain  indefinable  elevation  and  beauty 
of  spirit,  was  their  gladly  acknowledged  superior. 
Is  it  possible  to  describe  the  indebtedness  to 
Him  ?  Is  it  the  language  of  exaggeration  to 
say  that  He  lives  in  the  soul,  and  the  soul  lives 
in  Him  ?  Well,  it  is  only  the  highest  applica- 
tion of  this  kind  of  influence  which  is  represented 
in  the  abiding  on  which  our  Lord  insists.  To 
dwell  from  day  to  day  in  the  secret  of  His 
presence;  to  have  the  consciousness  of  Him 
ensphering  our  thought  and  affection  ;  to  keep  all 
the  approaches  of  the  spirit  so  open  that  there 
can  be  a  continual  influx  of  His  gentleness.  His 
love.  His  spirit  into  us  ;  to  search  the  scriptures, 
listening  for  His  word,  and,  through  His  word, 
seeking  the  communion  of  His  mind  as  our 
wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  holiness  ;  thus 
to  live  is  to  fulfil  the  injunction,  "Abide  in  Me, 
and  I  in  you." 

This  abiding  is  the  secret  of  true  disciphsJtip, 
cjfcctual  prayer,  and  Christ-like  Joy. 


204        THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 

Yes  ;  let  us  give  diligent  heed  to  the  saying 
of  our  Lord:  ^'Herein  is  My  Father  glorified, 
that  ye  bear  much  fniit;   so  shall  ye   be  Aly 
Ver.  8.         disciples y    We  may  notice  the  honour  which  He 
puts  on  discipleship.     The  sentence  is  not,  "  So 
shall  ye  be  My  apostles."    Apostles  and  all  must, 
before  and  above  everything  else,  be  learners. 
That  is  the  summit  as  well  as  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  life.     And  the  learning  advances 
in  the  measure  in  which  the  fruit-bearing  in- 
creases.     For,  in  that  measure,  our  sympathy 
with  the  Lord,  the  union  of  our  wills  with  Him, 
and  therefore  our  knowledge  of  Him,  is  deepened 
and  confirmed.    Herein  is  Jesus'  Father  glorified. 
He  desires  the  glory  of  His  Son — that  is  the 
Father's  glory.     He  is  regarding  this  in  all  the 
discipline  of  His   love.     "Whoso   knows  that 
the  gardener's  arm  is  not  set  on  work  by  anger, 
but  by  skill,  will  not  conclude  that  he  hates  the 
tree  he  wounds,  but  that  he  has  a  mind  to  have 
it  fruitful,  and  judges  these  harsh  means  the 
Boyle's  Re-  fittcst  to  producc  that  effect."     Always  let  us 
chap""!'       say  this  to  ourselves — the  mind  of  my  Father 
in  all  His  dealings  with  me  is  to  enlarge  the 
capacity  of  discipleship,  of  learning  the  sonship 
of  His  Son,  of  bearing   much  fruit.     Fruit   is, 
so  to  speak,  the  concentrated  juice  or  blood  of 
the  tree.     It  is  the  result  and  sign  of  the  life 
which    is   in    that   blood.     The  fruit  to  which 
Christ  refers  is  the  character,  with   all   its  in- 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.        205 

fluence,  which  expresses  the  cleansing  efficacy 
of  His  blood,  which  is  the  necessary  manifesta- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  a  Son.  "  Love,  joy,  peace, 
long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness, 
meekness,  temperance  " — thus  St  Paul  describes  *^^'-  ^• 
"the  fruit  of  the  Spirit."  How  solemn  the 
reminder,  ^^  Duich  fruit,  so  shall  ye  be  My  dis- 
ciples." Ah,  to  what  must  we  trace  the  reason 
of  our  spiritual  poverty  and  powerlessness 
but  to  this,  that  we  are  not  abiding  in 
Christ,  making  Him  truly  our  home,  under- 
standing that  the  order  is,  first,  in  Him,  the 
inner  life  fed  out  of  Him,  and  second,  j^r  Him, 
the  outer  life  His  witness  to  men.  Some  of  us, 
I  daresay,  feel  that  we  do  not  attend  sufficiently 
to  tJie  springs  of  action.  We  are  so  busy, 
so  engaged  in  work  of  one  kind  or  another, 
that  the  private,  personal,  communion  with 
the  Lord  suffers.  Oh,  for  all  right  service  the 
need  is,  Christ  at  the  centre  of  the  being,  Christ 
Himself  the  being's  centre.  Mrs  Stowe  has 
beautifully  interpreted  the  longing  of  the  true 
disciple : — 

"  The  soul  alone,  like  a  neglected  harp. 

Grows  out  of  tune,  and  needs  that  hand  divine  ; 
Dwell  Thou  within  it,  tune  and  touch  the  chords, 
Till  every  note  and  string  shall  answer  Thine. 

"  Abide  in  me,  there  have  been  moments  pure 

When  I  have  seen  Thy  face  and  felt  Thy  power  ; 
Then  evil  lost  its  charm,  and  passion  hushed, 
Owned  the  divine  enchantment  of  the  hour. 


206        THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES. 

"  These  were  but  seasons  beautiful  and  rare  ; 
Abide  in  me  and  they  shall  ever  be. 
I  ask  Thee  now  fulfil  my  earnest  prayer, 
Come  and  abide  in  me  and  I  in  Thee." 

The  secret  of  discipleship,  and  the  secret  of 
effectual  prayer  also,  is  contained  in  the  word, 
Abide.  How  large,  yet  how  carefully  defined, 
is  the  promise  of  the  seventh  verse.  How 
large,  "  Ye  shall  ask  ivhat  ye  will,  and  it  shall 
be  done  nnto  yoii ;''  but  how  carefully  defined, 
Ver.  7.  "  U y^  abide  in  Me,  and  My  words  abide  in  yon." 
The  z/"  of  the  defining  clause  has  its  place  in  the 
right  conception  of  prayer.  Suppose  yourself, 
dear  reader,  in  perfect  sympathy  with  another, 
thinking  in  his  mind,  feeling  in  his  affections, 
seeing  as  through  his  eyes,  will  not  your  asking 
be  only  the  reflection  of  his  purpose  .'*  Nay, 
will  not  your  speaking  to  him  be  really  his 
spirit  speaking  out  of  you  .-'  Now,  if  you  are  in 
Christ — if  His  mind  is  the  home  of  your  mind, 
if  His  words  are  the  material  of  your  thought, 
and  the  life  which  you  live  in  the  flesh  is  being 
lived  in  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God — what  the 
will,  in  you  thus  abiding,  prompts  is  only  the 
echo  of  His  voice.  There  may  be  much  of  your 
own  in  the  expression  of  the  will,  much  perhaps 
that  is  weak  and  foolish,  but  there  is  a  prayer 
i7i  the  prayer,  an  intercession  of  the  spirit  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered.  And  what 
is  this  but  the  articulated  thoupht  of  God — His 


THE  VINE  AND  THE  BRANCHES.        20/ 

Spirit  speaking  from  you  to  Himself?  "Lord 
teach  us  to  pray,"  said  the  apostles.  The  Lord 
is  teaching  us  to  pray  when  He  lays  down  the 
fundamental  rule,  '^  Abide  in  Me  and  I  in  yon y 

Finally,  thus  to  abide  is  the  secret  of  Christ- 
like joy.     What  was  the  joy  of  the  Lord .''     His 
consciousness  of  the  Father's  love.     The  world 
was  nothing  to  Him,  His  Father  was  all.     "  He 
kept   His  Father's  commandments,  and  abode 
in   His  love."     There  is  nothing  more  in  the  ver.  lo. 
thought  of  Jesus  than    that   all  who  are   His 
should  be  partakers  of  this  sovereign  blessed- 
ness.    It  could  be  theirs,  as  it  had  been  His, 
only  through  the  possession  of  a  home  outside 
the   world.      Men   had    asked    Him,   "  Where 
dwellest  Thou  } "  and  it  had  been  sufficient  for 
Him  to  point  upward,  "  I  dwell  with  Mine  own 
people,  with  My  Father."    He  points  us  upward, 
''As  t/ie  Father  hath  loved  Me,  so  have  I  loved 
yon ;   continue  ye   in  My   lovey      There  is  the  vcr.  9. 
home,  and  here  is  the  home-life — "  If  ye  keep  My 
commandments,  ye    shall    abide    in    My    love!'  Ver.  10. 
Heaven  is  where  He  is,  enshrined  in  obedient, 
dutiful  love.      Such  love  is  stronger  than  the 
world,  stronger  than  death  :  "  I  am  persuaded 
that  neither  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God,  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Rom.viii.39. 

"  These  things  have  I  spoken  nnto  yon,  that 
My  Joy  might  be  fnlfilled  in  you,  and  that  your 
joy  might  be  fully  Vcr.  n. 


XVII. 

CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 
Chaps,  xv.   12-27,  and  xvi.  i-ii. 

"The  world  hateth  you." 

We  notice  five  pauses  in  the  last  discourse  of 

our   Lord.      Five   times    He    repeats,    "These 

chap.xiv.25.  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you."     The  prospect 

chapixvLi!"  of  the  impending  separation  seems,  again  and 

chap/xvi.'as'.  again,  with  new  vividness   to   rise  before  His 

mind  ;  and,  as  the  eye  of  the  soul  regards  it, 

He   gathers   up   the    purpose   of  His   address, 

reviews  the   circumstances  of  His  little  flock, 

passing  on  to  some  farther  thought  or  calling 

back  that   He  may  more   fully  explain   some 

past  voice  of  love.     One  of  such  pauses  is  now 

Chap.  .\v.  II.  before  us.     Jesus  has  illustrated  the  truth  of  the 

union,  vital  and  organic,  in  which  He  and  His 

are  joined  together ;  and  He  has  charged  His 

followers  to  abide  in  Him,  to  continue  in  His 

love.     In  this  exposition  He  has  presented  the 

ideal    of  His   church,   apart   from    any  special 

surroundinccs.       But    He    must    return    to    the 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  209 

position  then  occupied  by  the  eleven,  and  to 
the  condition  of  all  who  shall  believe  in  Him 
through  their  word,  as  signified  by  their  sorrow 
and  trials.     From  the  eleventh  verse  of  the  fif- 
teenth chapter  and  through  the  sixteenth  chap- 
ter, His  utterance  relates  to  the  two  points, 
The  disciple,  and  the  ivorld, 
The  supports  provided  for  the  disciple. 
Let  us  endeavour  to  apprehend  the  more  salient 
features  of  the  testimony. 

One  issue  of  the  union  which  has  been 
described  is  a  separation  from  the  world  which 
involves  an  irreconcilable  antagonism.  Christ 
had  delayed  making  the  full  extent  of  this  an- 
tagonism known  until  the  night  of  His  betrayal. 
"  These  things  I  said  not  unto  yoiL  at  the  begin- 
ning^ because  I  ivas  zvith  you."  Hints  and  inti-  chap.  xvi.  4. 
mations  He  had  indeed  repeatedly  given.  But 
He  had  never  referred  to  it  so  pointedly  as  then 
—never  "with  such  disclosure  of  the  deepest 
ground  of  the  hatred."  So  long  as  He  went  be- 
fore them,  He  stood  between  them  and  others ; 
now  that  He  is  going  away,  the  plain  truth  must 
be  plainly  told.  "  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the 
world  would  love  his  own  ;  but  because  ye  are 
not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of 
the  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you."  chap.xv.  19. 

See  how  often  in  this  sentence  the  term  the 
world  is   mentioned.     There   are    some   Avords 
o 


2IO 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 


whose  meaning  we  feel  but  cannot  exactly 
define  ;  of  such  words,  "  the  world  "  is  one.  We 
have  all  some  conception  of  what  it  denotes  as 
employed  by  Christ ;  but  it  is  impossible  in 
precise  terms  to  set  forth  the  types  of  person 
included  in  the  phrase.  To  the  apostles  it  sig- 
nified the  mass  outside  the  circle  of  believers — 
the  Synagogue,  the  Priesthood,  the  Schools  of 
the  Rabbins,  the  people  soon  to  be  roused  to 
the  cry,  "  Crucify  Him,  crucify  Him."  It  signi- 
fied more,  as  by-and-bye  they  discovered  ;  in 
Luther's  pithy  phrase,  "All  Emperors,  Kings, 
Princes,  and  whatever  is  noble,  rich,  great  and 
learned,  wise,  or  anything  upon  earth."  Now, 
with  respect  to  this  mighty  opposing  force,  we 
can  observe  a  change  of  tone  from  previous 
sayings.  In  the  seventh  chapter  of  this  gospel, 
we  read  that  Jesus  declined  going  up  to  the 
temple  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles  because  "  My 
time  is  not  yet  come :  but,"  turning  to  the 
twelve,  "  your  time  is  alway  ready :  the  world 
('hap.  vii.  7,  cannot  hate  you,  but  me  it  hateth."  How  dif- 
ferent the  language  now  !  It  is,  "  The  world 
cannot  hit  hate  you  since  me  it  hateth." 
Master  and  followers  are  now  identified.  He  and 
they  are  henceforth  to  be  regarded  as  one — the 
one  tree  having  the  one  life.  They  have  been 
taken  out  of  the  world.  They  have  been  grafted 
into  Himself  TJiercfore  the  world  hates  them. 
There  is  a  remarkable  bitterness  in  the  hatred 
which  is  predicted.     We  bid  our  thought  back- 


Quoted 
"  Hare's 
Mission  of 
the  Com- 
forter." 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  2  I  I 

ward,  for  an  instant,  to  the  time  of  the  apostles. 
How  sharp  and  rugged  the  outline  of  the  enmity 
which  they  encountered !  With  regard  to  the 
Jews,  neither  was  Jesus  nor  was  His  doctrine  the 
fulfilment  of  the  national  sentiment  concerning 
the  Messiah.  But  there  is  a  malignity,  there  is  a 
savage  ferocity  in  the  spirit  of  the  Jewish  mind 
for  which  this  will  scarcely  account.  As  for  the 
civilisations  of  Greece  and  Rome  : — why  is  it 
that  nations  so  easy,  so  polite,  so  deferential  to 
all  new  doctrines,  should  kindle  into  animosity 
when  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  seems  to  grow 
and  prevail  amongst  them  ?  What  is  there 
about  this  truth  or  its  promoters  which  tends  to 
provoke,  and,  having  provoked,  to  intensify  this 
antagonism  .-*  Have  we  not  the  answer  from 
Christ  Himself?  "  TAe  world  loves  his  oivn." 
It  will  tolerate  modes  of  religion  however 
various,  so  long  and  so  far  as  it  finds  its  own 
in  them.  But  this  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  solemn  condemnation  of  that 
which  the  world  loves  and  idolizes.  And  it 
will  not  consent  to  be  merely  tolerated.  A 
niche  might  have  been  found  for  Christ  in  the 
Pantheon  ;  He  might  have  got  the  place  of 
another  Master,  another  God,  a  new  light  of  the 
world  ;  it  might  then  have  been  said  what, 
indeed,  we  do  hear  in  our  time,  "  The  Jew  goes 
his  way,  and  the  Heathen  goes  his  way,  and 
the  Christian  goes  his  way,  and  they  are  all  so 
many  ways  by  which  men  arrive  at  the  one 


212  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

end."  But  this  is  the  place  which  Christ  de- 
chnes.  The  word  is,  "  I  am  the  Light  of  the 
world,"  "  I  am  tJie  Way,  and  the  Truth,  and  the 
Life."  There  can  be  no  lowering  and  no  com- 
promise of  the  claim.  The  demand  which 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  met  and  meets  man- 
kind still  is  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  who  had 
been  not  merely  "found  in  fashion  as  a  man,"  but 
rhii.  ii.  7-to.  had  "  taken  on  him  the  form,"  not  of  the  mighty 
or  wise,  but  of  the  slave,  and  had  undergone  the 
death  of  the  cross,  every  knee  should  bow. 

"  Therefore  the  zuorld  hatethJ'  The  opposition 
offered  by  the  faith  that  is  in  Christ  is  aggressive, 
is  exasperating.  It  rouses  up  the  dominant  hos- 
tility of  the  selfishness  and  wickedness  in  which 
the  world  is  lying.  It  calls  out  the  resistance  of 
unregenerate  nature  to  the  light  and  truth  of 
God.  Its  cut  is  sharper  and  deeper  than  a 
two-edged  sword.  The  enmity  is  without 
excuse,  yet  it  is  inevitable.  Christ's  words  do 
not,  like  the  world-religions,  merely  scratch  the 
surface  of  the  life.  They  lay  bare  the  inner 
places  of  the  moral  nature.  They  convict,  not 
of  evil  only,  but  of  sin.  They  do  not  allow  a 
man  to  be  neutral.  They  demand  to  be  re- 
ceived or  rejected  ;  and  the  reception  or  the 
rejection  is  the  revelation  of  the  will,  of  the  con- 
science in  a  man.  "  //"  /  had  not  come  and  spoken 
unto  tJiein,  they  had  not  had  sin :  bnt  noiu  they 
have  no  excuse  for  their  sin.  .  .  If  /  had  not  done 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  2  I  3 

among  tJicvi  the  %vorks  winch  Jione  other  maji  did^ 

they  had  not  had  sin :  bnt  now  they  have  both 

seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Fat  her ^     Such  chap.  xv.jj. 

24, 
is  Christ's  explanation  of  the  world-hatred,  its 

reason  and  its  guilt. 

The  hatred  is  announced  in  sentences  per- 
spicuous and  prophetic,  so  plain  that  those 
to  whom  He  spoke  could  not  afterwards 
regard  any  suffering  as  strange,  could  not  be 
offended  as  if  something  had  been  concealed  from 
them.  What  they  would  encounter,  how  they  chap,  .xvi.  i. 
would  be  treated  are,  in  precise  phraseology, 
sketched.  "  They  shall  put  you  02it  of  the  syna- 
gogue:  yea,  the  time  cometh,  that  whosoever 
killeth  you  will  think  that  he  doeth  God  serviced  Chap.  xvi.  ?. 
And  this  is  no  incident  in  one  age  merely :  it  is 
descriptive  of  an  opposition  of  forces  which  must 
perpetuate  itself  "  TJie  servant  is  not  greater 
than  his  lord :  if  they  have  persecuted  vie,  they 
will  also  persecute  you."  The  forms  of  the  chap.  xv.  -o. 
opposition  may  vary,  but  in  all  times  "  the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  Romans  viii 

St  Paul  speaks  of  the  "  offence  of  the  cross."  ^" 
The  object  of  many,  it  might  appear,  is  to 
separate  the  off"ence  from  the  cross ;  to  present 
for  the  admiration  of  men  a  cross  which  can- 
not offend  ears  polite,  which  is  simply  a  symbol 
of  the  beautiful,  the  pathetic,  the  self-devoted. 
Certainly,   there    is   no   need    to   add    to    the 


xii.  9. 


214  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

offence  ;  there  is  no  need  to  attach  to  the  cross 
an  offence  which  is  not  proper  to  it.  But  the 
attitude  sometimes  assumed  by  modern  aesthetic- 
ism  and  culture  must  be  jealously  watched. 
Christianity,  persecuted  for  three  centuries  by 
Pagan  Rome,  ultimately  triumphed.  But  what 
then  ?  The  Prince  of  this  world  is  "  that  old 
Revelation  scrpcnt,  Called  the  Devil  and  Satan."  The 
Paganism  which  was  conquered  was,  in  one  and 
another  and  another  of  its  elements,  absorbed 
into  the  Church,  until,  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
the  spectacle  was  exhibited  of  either — we  can 
scarcely  determine  which — a  Paganised  Chris- 
tianity or  a  Christianised  Paganism.  Thus  the 
radical  world-hatred,  in  covert  manner,  perse- 
cutes the  Church  of  God.  By  subtlety,  Jacob 
stole  the  birthright.  May  it  not  be,  that,  with 
similar  subtlety,  we  are  betimes  offered  food 
which  has  a  savour  of  the  Bread  of  Life,  but 
which  wants  its  pith  and  pungency — its  solemn 
dealing  with  conscience,  the  work,  done  by  no 
other  but  done  by  Christ,  that  has  respect  to  sin 
and  righteousness  and  judgment,  and  the  New 
Testament  in  His  blood  shed  for  many,  for  the 
remission  of  sin  .-'  The  aim  is  to  make  religion 
popular,  to  send  it  forth,  not  in  the  rough 
sandals  of  the  soldier,  but  in  the  golden  slippers 
of  the  courtier.  Men  are  more  anxious  to 
exhibit  the  smile  than  to  manifest  the  frown  ;  to 
show  how  far  Christianity  goes  with  the  world 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  2  1  5 

than  to  show  where  its  path  and  that  of  the 
world  diverge.  So  far  good.  It  is  a  really  laud- 
able and  blessed  work  to  remove  misconstruc- 
tions which  needlessly  embarrass  the  faith  of  the 
thoughtful ;  it  is  good  also  to  reveal  that  more 
human  side  of  Christian  truth  which  is  vouched 
for  in  the  name  that  Christ  took  to  Himself,  the 
Son  of  Man.  But  not  at  the  expense  of  what 
is  spiritual  in  the  truth  ;  not  by  hiding  the  un- 
alterable demand  of  the  gospel ;  not  by  making 
Christ  crucified  a  mere  apotheosis  of  self- 
sacrifice  ;  not  by  obliterating  or  by  softening 
the  lines  which  divide  the  two  camps,  the  be- 
lieving church  and  the  unbelieving  world.  May 
God  help  us  to  be  stedfast  and  unmoveable ; 
not  "  to  pad  the  cross  we  bear,"  still  less  to  be 
content  with  a  merely  ornamental  cross,  but  to 
deny  self  and  take  up  the  cross  of  Jesus  and 
follow  Him !  I  dread  the  Judas  who  conceals 
his  hatred  behind  a  kiss— the  one  in  the  position 
of  the  disciple  who  with  a  kiss  betrays  the 
Christ  of  God  into  the  hands  of  sinners. 

So  much  for  the  disciple  and  the  world  : 
what  are  the  supports  which  Christ  sets  before 
His  little  flock  thus  called  to  conflict  and  trial 
in  His  name  and  for  His  sake  ?  I  distinguish 
three  such  supports  —  T/ie  conscioitsness  of  a 
Divine  election  ;  The  strength  of  a  uniting  love  ; 
The  power  of  the  testifying  spirit  of  truth. 


2  I  6  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

First,  it  is  a  support  to  realise  the  election 
expressed  in  the  sentence  :  "  Ye  have  not  chosen 
me,  hut  I  have  chosen  you,  and  ordained  yon  that 
ye  should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your 
Chap.  XV.  \6.  fruit  should  remain."  Let  us  separate  the  in- 
terpretation of  these  words  from  applications  or 
misapplications  of  the  doctrine  of  electing  grace. 
They  suggest  to  us  the  fact  which,  is  the  main- 
stay of  every  "  good  and  faithful  servant,"  that 
God  seeks  the  man  before  the  man  seeks  Him, 
that  service  is  only  a  response  to  His  call,  that  the 
soul's  love  to  Him  is  only  "the  reflex  and  reper- 
cussion of  His."  In  Israel,  disciples  were  wont 
to  choose  their  own  Rabbis,  and  the  disciples  of 
one  Rabbi  formed  a  species  of  club  or  associa- 
tion. Jesus  reminds  His  disciples  that  it  had 
not  been  so  with  them  ;  and,  in  thus  reminding, 
He  gives  the  hint,  afterwards  to  be  filled  out,  of 
the  truth  of  His  Church.  There  are  unions 
which,  by  the  mutual  consent  of  associates,  may 
be  dissolved.  But  the  action  of  individuals 
cannot  break  up  such  a  union  as  the  Family. 
"  No  distance  breaks  the  tie  of  blood  ;  Brothers 
are  brothers  evermore."  The  Church  is  not 
a  dissolvable  partnership.  Viewed  apart  from 
special  ecclesiastical  constitutions — as  the  Tree, 
Stem  and  Branches,  the  one  Body  of  the 
Lord — it  stands  on  the  election  of  the  Eternal. 
It  proceeds  from  the  love  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son.     It  may  pass  into  various  phases,  but 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  2  I  7 

it  must  live.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  but  the  elective  call  of  the  Eternal  shall 
not  pass. 

Now,  to  the  witnesses  for  Jesus,  the  sense  of 
this  call  is  an  unfailinq-  encourae^ement.  There 
is  the  consciousness  of  tJie  elevation  into  which  it 
raises.  Not  servants  but  friends.  Christ  does  "^'^^p-^^'s 
not  treat  His  followers  as  those  to  whom  an 
order  is  merely  given,  without  any  exposition  of 
the  ordering  mind,  whose  part  is  merely  to 
execute  a  command.  He  makes  them  His  com- 
panions. They  are  His  confidants.  The  secret 
of  the  Lord  is  with  them.  He  manifests  Himself 
to  them,  and  not  to  the  world  :  ^^  All  tilings  tJiat 
I  have  heard  of  my  Father  I  have  made  kjiozvn 
to  you."  Is  not  this  honour  enough  }  Those  ^^^p-  ^^'  '^ 
who  are  admitted  into  the  intimacy  of  the  Lord 
of  Glory  need  not  be  dismayed  because  of  the 
brow-beating  of  the  world.  With  regard  to  all 
tribulation,  is  it  not  blessed  to  realise  in  it  the 
fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  to  know  that  they 
are  "  made  like  unto  Him  by  suffering  patiently 
adversities,  troubles,  sicknesses,"  that  "  the 
way  to  eternal  joy  is  to  suffer  here  with  Him, 
and  the  door  into  eternal  life  is  gladly  to  die 
with  Him,  so  as  to  rise  again  from  death,  and 
dwell  with  Him  in  everlasting  life  .^"     Certainly,  ^ookof 

'-'  -'  '  Common 

He  who  called  them  to  partnership  with  Him-  Ppy^^^.- 

^  ■■•  visitation  ol 

self  will  not  fail  or  forsake  "  when  comes  the  t^e  sick. 
evil  day." 


2l8  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

Encouragement  and  stimulus  in  one!  Not 
only  the  elevation  implied  in  the  call,  but  the 
purpose  of  the  call  must  be  vividly  before  the 
mind.  What  is  this  }  "  That  ye  should  go  and 
bring  forth  friiitr  A  little  while  before  the 
Lord  had  said,  "Arise,  let  us  go  hence."  For 
Him  to  "go  hence"  was  to  bring  forth  fruit. 
The  corn-seed  could  be  quickened  into  vitality 
only  by  His  death.  His  friends  must  go  also — 
ever  out  of  self,  ever  onwards  and  outwards. 
"  He  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find 

Matt.  X.  39.  it."  Is  not  the  philosophy  of  missions  com- 
pressed in  this  monosyllable  ^(3  .^  Is  not  the 
way  of  holiness,  of  usefulness,  signified  in  it .-' 
It  is  said  that  Benjamin  Franklin  chose  for  a 
device  to  his  signet-ring  the  fruit-bearing  tree, 
and  that  when,  near  his  end,  he  was  asked  for 
some  word  of  wisdom,  he  breathed  into  his  son's 
ear  the  word  frnitfjil.  It  is  the  word  written 
into  the  call,  into  the  mission  of  the  disciple 
— "  ordained  that  you  should  go  and  bring  forth 
fruit." 

Secondly,  there  is  the  support  of  a  brother- 
hood, whose  cement  is  love  originated  and  ruled 
by  the  love  which  laid  down  its  life  for  the 
world.  I  take  the  seventeenth  verse  as  having 
special  reference  to  the  Church  in  its  fight  with 

Chap.  XV.  17^  the  world.  "  Love  one  another,"  says  Christ ; 
"in  this  all  my  commandments  are  summed  up. 
This  is  your  strength.     It  will  attract  the  hos- 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  219 

tility  of  men,  but  it  will  be  your  power  in  meet- 
ing that  hostility.  The  world  may  hate  you,  as 
it  has  hated  me,  but,  having  this  love,  you  will  be 
more  than  the  world  ;  you  will  overcome  even 
as  I  overcame."  We  can  trace  a  likeness  be- 
tween the  thought  of  Jesus  and  the  beautiful 
tradition  concerning  the  later  years  of  St  John — 
the  tradition  that,  when  old  and  infirm,  he  used 
to  be  carried  into  the  assembly  of  Christians  at 
Ephesus,  and  to  say,  as  he  was  borne  through 
their  midst,  "  My  children,  love  one  another  ; " 
and  that  when  asked  why  he  always  said  the 
same  thing,  he  replied,  "  If  this  one  thing  were 
attained  it  would  be  enough."  Enough ! — but 
alas,  has  it  been  attained  .'' 

The  emphasis  with  which  the  new  command- 
ment is  enforced  in  the  last  words  of  Jesus 
before  He  suffered  is  very  observable.  As  if 
He  had  foreseen  that  the  occasions  of  departure 
from  it  would  multiply  as  the  area  of  the 
Church  enlarged.  The  brotherly  covenant  is 
the  essential  feature  of  His  cause,  the  condition 
of  effectual  witnessing  against  unbelieving  man- 
kind ;  and  the  danger  of  lapsing  from  it,  and  thus 
weakening  His  testimony,  is  apparently  present 
to  the  mind  of  the  Lord.  Certainly  in  our  day, 
the  love  of  Christianlfor  Christian,  although  still  a 
powerful  factor,  is  not  the  ardent  force  that  He  de- 
sired it  should  be.  Christendom  is  now  so  mighty 
a  thing,  and,  like  the  net  of  the  parable,  so  gathers 


2  20  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

Matt.xm.47.  to  itself  "of  every  kind,"  that  love  for  another 
simply  on  account  of  his  Christian  profession 
can  scarely  be  a  warm  and  intense  affection. 
Hence  the  tendency  to  limit  the  action  of  sym- 
pathy to  smaller  sections  of  the  Church,  to  the 
denomination  to  which  we  belong,  or,  at  least, 
to  a  range  not  far  outside  of  it.  Must  we  not 
confess  that  we  have  too  little  of  the  consciousness 
of  the  "Holy  Catholic  Church  throughout  the 
world  "  }  that  we  are  not  interested  as  we  should 
be  in  the  welfare  of  its  whole  estate,  and  the 
several  parts  of  it }  Shall  we  not  admit  that, 
beyond  certain  boundaries,  our  neighbour  Chris- 
tian is  to  us  but  a  shadow  ?  How  few  in  our 
Protestant  churches  realise  that  Catholicity 
which  was  one  of  the  noblest  features  of  the 

See  D'Au-     Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  are 

bigne's  . 

History  of    alivc  to  thc  duty  restmg  on  the  stronger  com- 

theRefoima-  .  111  1  •  1 

tion.  munion  to  help   the   weaker    m    the   common 

battle  with  the  world  and  Belial !  Nay,  shall 
we  not  take  guilt  to  ourselves  for  our  dissensions 
and  jealousies,  in  consequence  of  which  our 
churches  betimes  stand  "like  cliffs  which  have 
been  rent  'asunder  "  .-'  Oh  what  dishonour  has 
been  done  to  Christ !  What  harm  to  His  little 
ones  !  What  waste  of  energy,  what  loss  of  power 
in  many  ways  by  the  strifes  which,  if  they  prove 
a  zeal  for  light,  evidence  the  want  of  love  ! 
The  Church  needs  a  new  lesson  in  the  command, 
Love  one  another.     How  shall  we  best  help  in 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  22  1 

counteracting  the  evil  which  all  true  Christians 

deplore  ?     One  way  at  least  is  open  to  us.     Let 

us  love  Christ  more.      Let  us  live  more  with 

Christ  Himself.     Let  us  draw  water,  not  out  of 

broken  cisterns  of  man's  hewing,  but  out  of  the 

wells  of  salvation.     To  love  Christ  with  all  our 

strength  is  "  to  love  one  another  with  a  pure 

heart  fervently."     "  The  quickest  way  to  meet,"  i  Peter  i.  22. 

says  one  who  is  now  beholding  the  King,  "  is,  I 

believe,  not  so  much  by  seeking  to  approach  one 

another  along  the  outward  rim  of  the  circle  as 

by  striving  each  from  his  own  point  towards  the 

one  centre — towards  the  heart  of  God.     Every 

step  in  that  direction  is  a  step  towards  unity. 

As  the  radii  converge  to  the  centre,  they  approach  Robertsons 

,  ,  1  )>  Pastoral 

more  nearly  among  themselves.  Counsels, 

But  finally,  as  the  great  support  of  the  dis- 
ciple in  his  conflict  with  the  world,  there  is  tJie 
promise,  twice  repeated  in  this  connection,  of 
the  co-zvitncssiiig  Spirit  of  Truth.  I  ought  to  pre- 
sent the  promise  otherwise,  for  the  order  of 
the  clauses  in  the  former  of  the  two  announce- 
ments is  noteworthy.  "  When  the  Comforter  is 
come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the 
Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth  which  proceedeth 
from  the  Father,  He  shall  testify  of  me,  and  ye 
also  shall  bear  witness."  The  testifier  is  the  chap.  .w.  26. 
Spirit  of  Truth.  The  also  is  applied  to  the  dis- 
ciples. It  is  God's  work,  and  God  Himself 
takes  charge  of  it.    The  complementary  witness 


22  2  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

is  that  of  the  Church,  necessary,  essential,  but 
it  is  along  with,  second  to,  the  Spirit  of  Truth. 
"  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 

Zechariah  saith  thc  Lord  of  Hosts."  This  is  comforting, 
I  think.  Inspiring  as  well.  We,  too,  are  sum- 
moned to  "  speak  of  what  we  know,  and 
testify  of  what  we  have  seen,"  ever  realising 
that  the  power  of  God's  Spirit  is  not  a  mere 
accompaniment  of  the  work  of  man,  but  that 
the  work  of  man  is  only  the  accompaniment  of 
a  direct  activity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  testifying  of 
Christ  to  the  world,  aye,  and  against  the  world. 
The  assurance  becomes  more  explicit  still  in 
the  latter  of  the  announcements.  It  is  flushed 
with  the  sense  of  victory.  Hitherto  the  world 
has  been  viewed  as  actively  hostile  to  Christ. 
Now  this  Holy  One,  in  His  coming,  will  carry 
the  war  into  the  camp  of  the  world.  The  Lord 
is  so  occupied  with  the  grandeur  of  this  aggres- 
sive warfare,  that  He  bids  His  followers  dismiss 
their  sorrow,  and  rejoice  with  Him  in  the  gain 
to  be  secured  by  His  departure,  and  the  conse- 

Chap.  xvi.  7.  quent  sending  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth.  His 
coming  is  the  signal  of  a  new  movement  into 
the  outlying  darkness,  a  movement  summed  up 
in  the  significant  sentence — "//<?  will  reprove 
the  world  of  sin,   and  righteoiisness,  and  judg- 

Chap.  xvi.  8  vientT 

Mark   the   three  words.      The   natural   con- 
science has  some  light  with  regard   to  them, 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  2  23 

but  no  real  conviction  until  Christ  is  made  nigh, 
until  the  conscience  is  set  immediately  before 
Him.  Saul  of  Tarsus  knew  them  to  be  more 
than  words  ;  but  their  power  was  not  understood 
until  the  demonstration  of  the  spirit  began  with 
the  question  of  the  astonished  soul,  "  Who  art 
Thou,  Lord  ?  "  and  the  answer  sent  back  on  it, 
"I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  thou  persecutest."  ^'='^  ■^^''  ^• 

But  what  more } 

"  Reprove  of  sin,  because  tJiey  believe  not  on 
iner  The  root,  the  essence  of  the  world's  sin  ^^r.  9. 
is  the  refusal  to  come  to  the  light,  to  welcome 
the  light,  to  accept  the  testimony  which  God 
is  giving  concerning  His  Son.  This  is  sin : 
not  to  believe  when  the  truth  is  truly  presented 
is,  not  a  misfortune,  but  sin.  The  word  in  the 
Epistle  of  St  John  is  very  strong.  It  is  to  make  i  John  v.  10. 
God  a  liar,  and  that  is  the  matter  of  the  indict- 
ment of  the  Spirit  against  the  world. 

"  Righteousness,  because  I  go  to  the  Father^  Ver.  jo. 
What  had  the  world  to  do  with  this  going  }  Its 
unrighteousness  had  to  do  with  it.  Its  wicked 
hands  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  "  Look  on 
Him  whom  yon  have  pierced''  is  the  preaching 
of  the  Spirit.  But  what  had  tJiis  going  to  do 
with  the  world }  It  was  to  be  the  world's 
righteousness.  The  voice  might  thereafter  be 
lifted  up  with  strength,  "  If  any  man  sin,  we 
have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ 
the  righteous  :  and   He  is  the  propitiation  for 


2  24  CONFLICT  AND  HELP. 

our  sins  :  and  not  for  our's  only,  but  also  for 
I  John  ii.  2.  the  whole  world." 

"Judgment,  because  tJie  prince  of  this  world  is 
ver.  II.  judged"  Christ  is  the  world's  judge.  His  word, 
His  cross,  is  the  judgment-seat.  He  is  the 
Revealer  of  the  thoughts  of  the  heart.  What 
every  man  is  in  God's  sight  is  proved  by  the 
attitude  of  the  mind  to  Him.  And  it  is  this 
which  every  faithful  testifying  for  Christ  brings 
out.  If  He  is  the  Lord  the  worship  of  the  whole 
heart  is  due  to  Him.  "  Thou  Satan,  thou  prince 
of  this  world,  who  dost  steal  the  heart  that  is 
His,  get  thee  behind." 

These  are  the  main  directions  of  the  victorious 

testimony  of  the  Spirit  when  the  promise  of  His 

coming  is  fulfilled.     The  warfare  of  the  ages  is 

vividly  before  the  mind  of  Christ.     "  With  a 

few  great  strokes  He  depicts  all  and  every  part 

oishausenon  of  His  ministry  in  the  world."    "That  which  was 

St  John  XVI.  ^^  ^^  effected  by  His  Spirit  in  the  Church,  during 

the  whole  course  of  ages  down  to  the  end  of 

the  world,  He  concentrates,  as  it  were,  into  a 

single  point  of  space  and  a  single  moment  of 

time,  even  as  our  eye,  with  the  help  of  distance, 

Hare's  Mis-  conccntratcs  a  world    into  a  star."      Yes,  the 

Comforter,    skctch  of  Peutccost,  and  the  immediately  suc- 

^'  ceeding  days  in   the  Book  of  the  Acts  of  the 

Apostles,  is  the  token  of  the  coming  and  the 

beginning  of  the  solemn  Refutation.    Let  us  feel 

that  it  is  proceeding  even  now.     The  word  by 


CONFLICT  AND  HELP.  225 

which  the  Lord  denotes  the  Spirit's  work  has  a 
more  deep  and  complex  meaning  than  at  first 
appears.  "  Reprove  "  in  the  authorised  version 
has  the  force  of  "  convict," — the  placing  "  of  the 
truth  of  the  case  in  dispute  in  a  clear  light  before 
another,  so  that  it  must  be  seen  and  acknow-  westcou. 
ledged  as  truth."  The  conviction  may  not  end  Commentary 
in  conversion.  Those  who  disputed  with  Stephen 
could  not  resist  his  wisdom.  They  were  con- 
victed, but  they  only  gnashed  on  him  with 
their  teeth.  Not  all  of  those  who,  beneath  the 
preaching  of  Peter,  were  pricked  in  their  heart 
repented  and  believed.  But  the  confidence 
which  we  are  called  to  cherish  is  that  the  battle 
of  the  Church  is  no  hopeless  contest.  It  often 
seems  so.  We  are  disposed  to  exclaim,  "  Help, 
Lord,  the  godly  man  ceaseth."  Have  tve  experi- 
enced the  power  of  God's  spirit  in  ourselves  .'* 
Have  we  realized  the  effect  of  His  cominsf  and 
convicting  as  to  sin,  and  righteousness,  and 
judgment.!*  is  He  the  convicter  of  all  that  is 
worldly  in  our  lives  .-•  Then  surely  we  have  the 
pledge  that  He  is  "  able  to  do  exceeding  abund- 
antly above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according 
to  the  power  which  has  wrought  in  us."  The 
grace  sufficient  for  one  sinner  is  sufficient  for  the 
whole  world.  What  time  our  heart  is  over- 
whelmed, let  us  say,  as  Luther  said  to  Melancthon 
in  time  of  depression,  "  Come,  sing  the  forty- 
sixth  Psalm."  For  with  this  promise  of  the 
P 


2  26  CONFLICT  AND  IlfiLP. 

Convicter  in  our  view,  we  know  assuredly  that 

Psalm  xivi.    "  God    is    our   refuge    and    strength,"   that    the 

battle  is  the  Lord's,  and  that  "  the  word  which 

goeth  forth  out  of  His  mouth  shall  not  return 

Isaiah  iv.  II.  unto  Him  void." 


XVIII. 

SORROW  TURNED   INTO   JOY. 

St  John  xvi.  12-33. 
"  In  Me  ye  have  peace.'' 

Thus,  in  their  conflict  with  the  world,  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  are  not  alone.  He  that  is  with 
them  is  more  than  all  than  can  be  against  them. 
"  God  is  in  their  midst,  and  they  shall  not  be 
moved  ;  God  shall  help  them,  and  that  right 
early."  But  their  witness  is  the  instrument  of  Pbaimxivi.5 
the  convicting  energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
what  of  their  fitness  for  the  work  to  which  they 
have  been  ordained  ?  The  question,  indeed,  is 
one  rather  as  to  the  measure  of  their  unfitness, 
for  the  crudeness  and  imperfection  of  their 
thoughts  has  been  made  only  too  evident !  Do 
we  not  often  feel,  when  about  to  part  from 
friends,  as  if  we  had  scarcely  touched  on  subj'ects 
which  were  near  to  our  hearts,  as  if  we  must  say 
farewell  when  we  had  scarcely  indicated  the 
deepest  currents  of  our  affection  and  desire  ? 
Such  a  feeling  is  present  to  the  human  soul  of 
Jesus,  as,  passing  from  the  contemplation  of  the 
outer  antagonisms,  He  concentrates  His  regard 


2  28  SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY. 

on  the  men  whom  the  Father  had  given  Him. 
There  is  a  beautiful  touch  of  charity  in  His 
sentence.  He  might  have  dwelt,  justly  and  not 
unkindly,  on  their  incapacity  for  spiritual  truth, 
on  their  slow-heartedness  and  foolishness.  But 
he  will  not  do  so  tJien,  for  they  are  filled  with 
sorrow.  He  merely  speaks  of  their  inability  to 
bear  farther  communications.  Their  spirits 
were  too  heavy,  they  were  too  weighted  with 
grief  tJien  for  fuller  conference.  "  I  have  yet 
many  things  to  say  to  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear 
Ver  T2.  them  now."  What  is  the  consolation  }  Again, 
The  Paraclete — His  personality  again  emphasized, 
that  we  may  be  sure  that  the  language  is  not 
figurative  only  of  some  influence,  some  moral 
force  of  which  the  apostles  would  be  partakers, 
but  is  the  plain  and  literal  announcement  of  a 
Divine  Person  in  personal  action  dwelling  with 
and  revealing  Himself  in  them. 

**  Howbeit  whe)i  He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come, 
He  shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth,  for  He 
shall  not  speak  from  Himself :  but  zvhat  things 
soever  He  shall  hear,  these  shall  He  speak  :  and 
He  shall  declare  tuito  you  the  things  that  are  to 
come.  He  shall  glorify  Me,  for  He  shall  receive 
Vers,  i^,  M,  of  Mine,  and  shall  declare  it  tinto  you." 

Revised  i   •  i  i  •  r 

Version.  Is  not  this  the  crown   and  consummation  ot 

the  promise  of  the  Comforter  .■*  We  observe  at 
once  the  difference  between  His  mission  to  the 
world  and   His  mission  to  the  church.     In  the 


SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY.      229 

one  He  is  against,  in  the  other  He  is  for.  The 
difference  has  been  expressively  rendered  thus  : 
— "  He  testifies  of  Jesus — that  is  the  beginning 
of  His  office  in  the  world  ;  He  glorifies  Jesus — 
that  is  the  goal  and  end  of  His  office  in  be- 
lievers." We  observe,  too,  the  advance  on  the  stier,  vol. 
previous  announcements  of  "  His  office  in  be-  ^^°' 
lievers."  The  announcement  towards  the  end 
of  the  fourteenth  chapter  is  great  and  precious  ;  chap.  xiv. 
but  it  includes  only  the  words  which  had  already  ^^' 
been  said.  It  is  the  assurance  that  what  the 
Lord  Jiad  spoken  would  be  recalled  and  ex- 
perienced. This  refers  to  what  was  unsaid, 
what  may  have  been  given  in  germ,  but  in  its  ap- 
plications and  relations  to  other  truths  had  not 
been  opened  up,  and  to  much  besides  which 
had  not  formed  part  of  Jesus'  doctrine.  All 
connected  with  the  passion  and  the  resurrection 
had  yet  to  be  unfolded.  Increase  of  light  shed 
on  Scripture ;  new  light  as  to  the  meanings  and 
truths  of  things,  as  to  the  will  of  God  in  provi- 
dence, as  to  the  future  of  the  church  and  the 
world ;  deeper  and  wider  apprehensions  of 
truth  as  the  soul  grew  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  ;  these  are  pledged  to 
the  apostles  in  the  day  of  the  Spirit's  coming. 

The  promise  is  wide  and  yet  it  is  limited.  It 
is  of  Christ's  that  the  Holy  Spirit  takes.  What 
is  out  of  or  apart  from  Christ,  what  is  not  of 
the    Father  but   of  the  world,  is    beyond   the 


230  SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOV. 

defined  field  of  operation.  But  then  the  addi- 
tion is,  "All  things  that  the  Father  hath  are 
mine;  therefore  said  I  that  He  taketh  of  mine 
Ver.  15.  and  shall  declare  it  nnto  you^  The  whole  ran^^e 
of  truth  therefore  is  comprehended  :  whatsoever 
is  the  Father's  is  the  domain  of  the  revelation  ; 
He  leads  into  all  the  truth  ;  He  takes  of  it  and 
shows  it,  so  far  as  the  work  of  the  church  re- 
quires it,  or  as  it  is  necessary  to  the  end  of  His 
work — the  glorifying  of  Christ.  It  would  be 
unfair  to  press  this  saying  as  an  argument  for 
the  absolute  infallibility  of  the  apostles.  That 
is  certainly  not  asserted,  not  even  involved.  It 
would  be  utterly  unfair  to  urge  it  as  a  proof  of 
their  universal  illumination.  It  is  not  said  that 
the  Spirit  shall  receive  and  show  all  things  that 
the  Father  hath.  All  the  Father's  things  are 
Christ's.  He  takes  of  or  out  of  this  all,  and 
declares  what  is  thus  selected  to  the  disciples. 
To  one  disciple,  He  shows  that  which  is  ap- 
pointed for  him ;  to  another,  that  which  is 
appointed  for  him.  Each  has  his  speciality 
out  of  that  infinite  fulness.  St  John,  with  the 
eagle  eye,  had,  most  of  all,  the  vision  of  the 
future  things.  To  him  not  only  did  the 
Heavens  open,  but  the  scroll  of  futurity,  the 
apocalypse  of  the  hidden  which  was,  and  is, 
and  is  to  come,  was  vouchsafed.  But  it  is  fair 
to  urge  that  the  word  of  Christ  is  a  pledge  of 
plenary    illumination — illumination    fully   adc- 


SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY.  23  I 

quate  to  the  office  of  the  apostles  of  the  Church 
— to  the  setting  forth  of  Christ  in  the  glory  of 
His  person  and  work  and  mediatorial  kingdom. 
And,  indirectly,  it  is  to  all  Christians  the  war- 
rant for  the  assurance  that  we  receive  of  the 
Lord  an  anointing  which  abideth  in  us,  an 
anointing  which,  in  so  far  as  we  yield  to  it  and 
our  wills  are  harmonious  with  it,  "  teacheth  of 
all  things,  and  is  truth,  and  is  no  lie."  i  J^hn  ii.  7 

The  clauses  of  this  saying  interest  mc  greatly. 
They  are  so  musical  and  so  full  of  meaning 
that  they  linger  in  the  soul  as  the  sensation 
of  chords  even  after  they  have  ceased  to  vibrate. 
How  beautiful  the  description,  for  instance,  of 
the  manner  of  the  blessed  Spirit's  glorifying  of 
Chrisf !  He  guides  into  all  the  truth.  How  } 
It  was  the  contention  of  Jesus  in  the  days  of 
His  flesh,  that  the  word  which  men  heard  was 
not  His  own,  that  He  spoke  what  He  heard  of 
the  Father.  This  other  Comforter  "speaks  not 
from  Himself r  He  is  the  listener.  He  hears, 
and  tJieu  He  speaks.  It  is  not  a  mere  stereo- 
typed system  of  doctrine  that  He  dispenses.  "He 
waken eth  morning  by  morning,  He  wakeneth 
mine  ear  to  hear  as  the  learned."  His  ear  isniah  1. 4. 
catches,  so  to  speak,  every  tone,  every  inflection 
of  the  voice  of  the  Eternal,  and  what  things 
soever  He  hears  He  speaks.  Oh  that  we  may 
wait  for  Him !  that  our  hearts  may  be  so  dis- 
posed that  Ave  shall  not  miss  the  whispers  which 


232  SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY. 

He  may  have  for  us !     One  of  the  best  and 
rarest  of  graces  is  that  of  a  good  listener.     We 
do  not   Hsten   enough   for  the  new  words  and 
anointings  of  the  Holy  One.     And  how  is  the 
speaking   distinguished  .''     It   is   a  declaring  or 
showing.      In    the    highest    kind    of    spiritual 
knowledge,  there  is  an  immediateness  of  per- 
ception which  is  the  sign  of  this  showing — a 
perception  that  is  distinct  from  mere  intellec- 
tual grasp,  that  answers  to  a  vision,  an  intuition 
of  the  fact  or  truth.    We  see.     So  the  apostle 
Keveiation  i.  g^w  the  voicc  that  spake  to  him  ;  saw  the  new 
RcN^eiaiion    hcavcns  and  the  new  earth  ;  saw  the  opening  of 
Kevc'aioii    the  seals,  and  the  great  multitude  before  the 

VI.      .  '  O 

Keve'ation  thronc,  and  the  things  that  must  shortly  come 
to  pass.  St  Paul's  Epistles  are  visions  of  the 
glory  of  Jesus.  The  truth  in  Him  is  beheld,  is 
expounded  as  matter  present  to  the  spiritual 
eye.  To  show  as  each  disciple  can  bear  it,  the 
fulness  of  life  and  truth  which  is  with  the 
Father,  and  lead  him,  having  his  eyes  opened, 
from  outer  into  inner  court  of  the  Temple  of 
Truth — Christ  the  all  and  in  all — is  the  func- 
tion of  the  Comforter  with  respect  to  the  dis- 
ciple. 

Let  me  add,  by  way  of  re-enforcement  of 
that  which  has  already  been  remarked  upon, 
that  in  this,  the  last  of  the  intimations  of  the 
Comforter,  the  Trinity  of  Persons  in  the  God- 
head is  most  clearly  set  forth.    The  Father,  who 


SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY.  233 

has  all  things  because  He  is  the  Father;  the  Son, 
whose  these  are  because  they  are  communicated 
from  the  Fatherhood  ;  the  Spirit,  who,  proceed- 
ing from  the  Father,  in  the  name  of  the  Son, 
takes  of  and  declares  these  things — thus  are  we 
reminded  of  the  Being  of  the  Eternal.  The 
mystery  of  that  Being  is  not  merely  to  be 
inferred  from  proof-texts;  it  is  inlaid  in  the 
very  structure  of  the  discourse  now  before 
us.  It  is  not  a  subject  for  speculation  or 
controversy.  Jeremy  Taylor  says,  and  his 
words  are  not  more  quaint  than  true,  "  He  that 
goes  about  to  speak  of  and  understand  the 
mysterious  Trinity,  and  does  it  by  words  and 
names  of  man's  invention,  may  amuse  himself ; 
he  may  '  build  three  tabernacles '  in  his  head 
and  talk  something,  but  he  knows  not  what ; 
but  the  good  man  that  feels  the  power  of  the 
Father,  and  he,  to  whom  the  Son  is  become 
Wisdom  and  Righteousness  and  Sanctification 
and  Redemption,  he  in  whose  heart  the  love  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  shed,  to  whom  God  hath 
communicated  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter, 
this  man  though  he  understands  nothing  of  that 
which  is  unintelligible,  yet  he  alone  understands 
the  mysteriousness  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  No  man 
can  be  convinced  well  and  wisely  of  the  article 
of  the  Holy,  Blessed,  and  Undivided  Trinity, 
but  he  that  feels  the  mightiness  of  the  Father, 
begetting  him  to  a  new  life,  the  wisdom  of  the 


234  SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY. 

Son,  building  him  up  in  a  most  holy  faith,  and 
the  love  of  the  Spirit  of  God  making  him  to 

Taylor's  Ser-  bcCOmC  like  God." 
mons,  St 
John  vii.  17, 

With  the  repetition,  in  the  completer  form  on 
which  we  have  dwelt,  of  the  promise  which  is 
the  centre  of  His  last  discourse,  our  Lord 
concludes  His  setting  forth  of  the  provision 
made  for  the  fruit-bearing  enjoined  on  His  dis- 
ciples. He  returns  on  the  sentence  about  "  the 
little  Avhile "  of  His  dwelling  with  them  ;  but 
He  casts  it  in  a  mould  which  perplexes  his 
followers.  "  A  little  while  and  ye  shall  not  see 
Me :  and  again,  a  little  zuhile,  and  ye  shall  see 

Ver.  16.  Afe."  The  tension  in  which  the  eleven  had  been 
held  is  now  relaxing  ;  the  Lord  is  again  at  a 
level  nearer  their  own :  and,  from  one  to  another 
the  whisper  passes,  "  What  can  He  mean  by 
this  saying, — by  these  two  '  little  whiles  ' — the 
one  after  which  they  would  not  see  Him,  and  the 
other  after  which  they  would,  and  this  because 

Vers.  17, 18.  He  is  going  to  the  Father } "  There  is  no 
Thomas,  or  Philip,  or  Judas  with  courage 
enough  now  to  speak.     But  He  perceives  the 

Ver.  19.  desire  for  an  explanation,  interprets  their 
questioning  ;  and,  by  way  of  answer,  He  gives 
another  direction  to  His  word.  The  one  little 
while  would  be  the  time  of  their  lamentation, 
but  the  world's  jubilation  ;  the  other  little  while 
would  be  the  time  of  their  jubilation  and  the 


SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY.  235 

world's  lamentation.     The  sorrow  and  the  joy 

of  His  disciples  are  portrayed.  Ver.  20. 

This  is  a  point  which  invites  us  to  mark  and 
learn  the  thought  of  Jesus,  articulated  in  the 
clause,  "  Ye  sJiall  be  sorrowful,  but  your  sorroic 
shall  be  turned  into  joy''  ^'^r-  2°- 

Not  your  sorrow  shall  give  place  to  joy.  It 
is  your  sorrow  shall  be  changed :  what  was  its 
matter  shall  become  the  matter  of  the  joy. 
At  the  moment  of  the  utterance,  the  matter  of 
the  grief  was  the  going  to  the  Father,  since  that 
seemed  to  involve  separation  and  bereavement. 
And  then  when  the  last  act  of  the  sacrifice  was 
finished,  during  the  little  while  in  which  they 
did  not  see  Him,  there  were  gathered  into  the 
sorrow  all  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  going  away ;  "  How  the  chief  priests  and 
rulers  delivered  Him  to  be  condemned  to  death  i^i^e J^^iv. 
and  crucified  Him.  Was  not  all  this  the  very 
material  of  the  joy  when  the  second  little  while 
came  .■*  the  substance  of  the  worship  through 
which  the  devotion  of  the  heart  was  poured  out 
to  the  risen  and  glorified  Lord  }  Analyse  that 
worship  :  is  it  not  the  triumph  in  all  on  account 
of  which  the  apostles  wept  while  the  world 
rejoiced  .''  Has  not  the  cross,  once  the  token  of 
deepest  shame,  been  turned  into  the  symbol 
with  which  all  that  is  most  holy  and  blessed 
in  the  history'-  of  the  centuries  is  associated  } 
A  strange   revolution  indeed  when  a  Hebrew 


236  SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY. 

of  the  Hebrews  could  write  of  that  which 
was  the  most  accursed  of  things — "  God  for- 
bid that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our 

Gaiatians  vi.  Lord  Jcsus  ChHst  "  !     And  is  not  the  sepulchre, 
'*'  at  whose  door  Mary  sat  weeping — the   rifled, 

empty  sepulchre — the  token  of  the  church's  hope 
and  victory  ?  We  worship  the  Christ  who  was 
crucified.  Day  by  day  we  magnify  Him. 
"  Thou  art  the  King  of  Glory,  O  Christ." 

The  joy  into  which  the   sorrow  is  changed 

ver.  22.  ^'110  man  taketh  fi'ovi  yoii^  And  this  on  account 
of  its  hidden  spring,  and  on  account  also  of  its 
intrinsic  character. 

The  spring — herein  it  is  to  be  traced  :  "  Ye 
now  therefore  have   sorrozu,  bnt  I  zvill  see  you 

Ver.  22.  again"  There  is  a  birth-power  in  that  seeing 
again.  The  heart,  conscious  of  it,  shall  be 
filled  with  a  gladness  like  that  of  the  mother 
whose  delight  in  the  living  babe  swallows  up  ail 
remembrance  of  anguish.     It  is  not,  "  You  shall 

Ver.  21.  see  Me  " — that  is  but  the  consequence  whose 
cause  is,  "  I  will  see  you."  It  is  the  self- 
manifestation  of  Jesus  in  the  Resurrection-life, 
in  the  day  of  the  Spirit — the  seeing  of  which 
all  arc  partakers  in  whom  He  is  formed  and 
dwells  as  the  Hope  of  Glory — that  awakens 
and  sustains  the  joy  of  the  heart  which  no  man 
taketh  away. 

No   man,    because   having   it,  we   have   the 
joy  of  Christ  Himself    His  last  discourse,  when 


SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY.  237 

the  shadow  of  Gcthsemane  and  Calvary  lay  on 
His  heart,  is  full  of  joy.  Nine  times  you  find 
either  the  verb  or  the  noun  denoting  it.  To  be 
full  of  His  joy  is  the  blessedness  which  He 
craves  for  His  own,  and  with  a  view  to  which 
He  speaks  to  them.  How  grandly  does  it  stand 
out  against  the  mere  good  of  outward  condition. 
It  is  quite  apart  from  the  world  ;  a  well-spring 
in  the  soul  itself,  not  fed  out  of  a  broken 
cistern,  but  out  of  the  great  fountain  of  life- 
out  of  God  Himself  It  is  an  affluence  "  ne'er 
given  save  to  the  pure  and  in  their  purest 
hours,"  a  victorious,  inward  energy  which  is 
its  own  reward.  It  draws  directly  from  Heaven. 
"  Ask,  says  Christ,  and  you  shall  receive,  that 
your  joy  may  be  full."  No  words  can  measure  Ver.  .4. 
it  ;  no  definitions  can  limit  it ;  it  flushes  the 
Hfe;  it  has  songs  for  the  midnight  in  prison; 

it   carries   music    in    its    every   thought "joy 

unspeakable  and  full  of  slow  "  „      . 

o         ■/  •  J  Peter  i.  £ 

When  the  apostles  found  this  joy,  they  found 
that  which— God  grant  we  all  may  learn.  From 
Bethany,  we  read  that  they  returned— after  the 
Lord  was  taken  to  heaven— not  mourning  and 
lamenting,  but  "with  great  joy,  and  were"" con- 
tinually in  the  temple,  praising  and  blessing  j  „^,  ^.^.;^. 
God."  Thenceforth,  they  abandoned  the  chase  ^'"  ".^"'' 
in  which  so  many  are  engaged— the  chase  after 
happiness.  They  had  got  what  was  better— 
they  had  got  the  joy  of  the  Lord.     Be  it  ours 


238  SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOY. 

to  cease  from  connecting  the  good  of  the  soul 
with  the  befallings  of  the  earthly  state.  So  long 
as  our  highest  thought  of  bliss  is  being  happy, 
we  are  sorry  slaves  and  beggars.  "  Rejoice  in 
Phiiippians    the  Lord  alway ;  and  again  I  say  rejoice." 

iv.  4. 

To  the  disciples,  in  the  present  stage  of  their 
mental  history,  Christ  has  been  speaking  in  the 
"  dark  words  "  of  parable.  But  what  was  par- 
able to  them  then  would,  in  the  day  of  light,  be 
plain  and  simple  speaking.  When  they  and 
He  saw  in  the  same  light,  obscurities  would  pass 

Ver.  25.  away,  and  truth  be  fully  revealed.  He  would 
speak  plainly  of  the  Father.     And,  as  He  tells 

Ver.  27.  them  of  the  love  of  His  Father  for  them,  and  of 
His   having   come   from    the    Father   into   the 

Ver.  2S.  world,  and  His  returning  from  the  world  to  the 
Father,  the  clouds,  for  a  brief  instant,  part  and 
scatter,  and  the  mists  roll  away,  and  they 
exclaim,    "  Lo,    now    speakest    Thou    plainly, 

Vor.  ig.  and  speakest  no  proverb."  Their  faith  rises  to 
the  height  to  which  He  had  pointed  when  at 
the  beginning  of  his  words  He  said,  "  Believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me."     "  We  believe,"  is  the 

Ver  30.  response,  "  that  Thou  camest  forth  from  God." 
The  rejoinder  of  Jesus  is  sadly  prophetic,  and 

Ver.  31.  withal  gently  chiding,  "  Do  ye  noiv  believe  }  " 
But  the  look  into  the  immediate  future  discloses 
a  band  of  disciples  forsaking  Him  and  leaving 
Him  alone  with  His  enemies.     Ah,  well !   He  is 


SORROW  TURNED  INTO  JOV.      239 

"  not  alone,  for  the  Father  is  with  Him."  Now,  ver.  32. 
speech  to  man  must  end  :  there  follow  the  re- 
trospect of  all  that  had  been  uttered ;  the 
re-statement  of  the  opposition  between  the 
world  and  Himself;  the  experience  through 
which  His  own  must  pass  in  their  way  through 
the  world,  balanced  by  the  home  which  they 
would  find  in  Him  ;  and — the  last  note  of  the 
discourse — the  assurance  of  victory  in  the 
act  of  laying  down  His  life.  For  He  lays  it 
down  that  He  may  take  it  again.  Clear,  calm  chap.  x.  17. 
— it  may  have  been  in  the  precincts  of  His 
Father's  temple,  or  in  the  open  air,  or  at 
the  Supper  table — there  comes  from  the  inner- 
most heart  of  Jesus  the  tender,  yet  kingly 
farewell, 

"  1  Jiese  things  Jtave  I  spoken  unto  yon,  that  in 
me  ye  may  have  peace.  In  the  tuorldye  may  have 
tribulation :  but  be  of  good  cheer ;  I  have  over- 
come the  world.'"  Ver.  33. 


XIX. 

THE    INTERCESSORY   PRAYER. 

St  John  xvii. 
"Now  come  I  to  Thee." 

Reverently  let  us  enter  the  holiest  of  all. 

"  The  true  understanding  of  the  prayer  in  the 

seventeenth  chapter  of  St  John,"  observes  a  man 

of  large  and  sanctified  thought,  "  goes  beyond 

the  measure  of  faith  which  the  Lord  is  wont  to 

impart  to  His  disciples  during  their  pilgrimage 

Spener,       on  earth."     I  confess  that  I  almost  shrink  from 

canst'^in.      its    cxposition.      One   of  the    New  Testament 

Revision  company  is  reported  to  have  said  that 

when  its  members,  in  session,  proceeded  to  the 

consideration  of  the  sublime  words  of  Jesus  an 

intense  solemnity  was  felt  by  all.     They  would 

have  been  unworthy  of  their  part  if  it  had  been 

otherwise.      "  Plain    and    artless   though   these 

words  may  sound,  they  are  so  deep,  and  rich, 

and  wide  that  no  one  can  find  their  ground  or 

Luther,        cxtcnt."     But  there  is  one  consideration  which 

Lange"!  ^^     invitcs  the  effort  to  comprehend  a  part  of  their 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.  24  I 

meaning.  They  were  spoken  not  only  to  the 
Father,  but  for  those  whom  the  Father  had 
given  Jesus.  They  are  an  instruction  as  well  as 
^  prayer.  They  present  us  with  the  epitome  of 
His  ceaseless  intercession  for  His  Church.  In 
them  the  veil  is,  for  a  moment,  drawn  aside,  and 
we  behold  the  Priest  in  the  presence  of  God  for 
us.  They  were  spoken  in  the  time  of  the 
humiliation,  but  their  matter  belongs  to  the 
eternity  of  the  glory.  Jesus  paused  in  the  midst 
of  His  pleading  to  say,  "  These  things  I  speak  in 
the  world,  that  they  may  have  My  joy  fulfilled  in 
themselves."  Surely,  then,  we  fall  in  with  a  pur-  vcr.  13. 
pose  of  the  prayer  when,  without  attempting 
to  gather  up  all  the  threads  of  thought,  we  endea- 
vour to  trace  the  outline  of  the  conference  by 
which  the  word  and  the  work  of  our  Lord  on 
the  night  of  His  Passover  are  crowned. 

The  prayer  occupies  a  place  of  solitary  pre- 
eminence in  the  Gospels.  Christ  taught  His 
disciples  to  pray,  but  the  invocation  separates 
between  Him  and  us.  He  never  said,  He  never 
could  say,  "  our  Father."  He  is  the  only  begotten 
Son.  There  are  words  of  direct  speech  with 
God  recorded  in  the  Gospels  ;  but  there  is  none 
in  which  desire  is  so  concentrated,  which  so 
interprets  the  inner  self,  as  this.  In  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  we  read  of  the  "  strong  crying 
and  tears  "  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  that  belongs  Hcb.  v.  ^. 
Q 


242  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

to  the  agony  in  the  garden.  Here  there  are  no 
tears.  The  soul  is  serenely  bright  and  calm. 
The  prayer  is  spoken  aloud.  Hitherto  Jesus 
had  retired  to  mountain  slope  or  grassy  nook  ; 
now,  for  the  first  time,  His  followers  are  allowed 
to  listen  as  He  pours  out  His  soul.  It  is  im- 
possible to  conceive  that  the  transaction  which 
the  beloved  Apostle  reports  was  invented  by  the 
consciousness  of  any  man.  It  bears  on  its  face 
the  credentials  of  the  Son  of  God.  None  could 
have  originated  it ;  but  one  like  St  John  could 
retain  it,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  would  bring  all 
things  to  his  remembrance  which  the  Lord  had 
spoken. 

Even  the  attitude  of  Him  who  prays  was 
photographed  on  the  memory.  The  Evangelist 
is  careful  to  mention  that  "  He  lifted  up  His 
eyes  to  heaven,"  The  human  heart  instinctively 
looks  up  when  it  aspires  to  heaven.  The  region 
of  light  and  love  is  that  freer  and  purer 
realm  which  the  Hebrews  represented  as  the 
heaven  of  heavens.  The  eyes  are  lifted,  but  not 
the  hands.  The  elevation  of  hands  becomes 
a  suppliant.  He  is  the  High  Priest  of  the 
redeemed  standing,  in  the  right  of  the  Me- 
diatorial kingdom,  between  God  and  man, 
knowing  that  what  He  asks  is  pleasing  in  God's 
sight.  It  is  a  spiritual  meditation  rather  than  a 
petition.  The  Son  of  the  love  thinks  aloud. 
His  thinking  assumes  a  threefold  form,  "prayer, 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.      243 

profession,  revelation."  There  is  retrospect  and 
there  is  prospect.  The  reader,  with  the  aid  of  his 
Revised  New  Testament,  can  distinguish  clearly 
between  the  glance  backward  and  the  glance 
forward.  The  Son  gives  an  account  of  His 
stewardship,  and  having  so  done,  contemplates 
with  holy  ardour  the  awaiting  glory  in  which 
His  own  are  called  to  be  sharers  with  Himself. 

In  the  sequence  of  its  thought  the  prayer 
corresponds  to  the  last  discourse.  We  cannot 
suppose  that  any  space  of  time  elapsed  between 
the  two,  for  they  are  so  similar — almost  exactly 
parallel — in  the  order  observed.  The  two  main 
divisions  of  the  discourse,  as  we  have  seen,  are 
the  Son's  relation  to  the  Father,  and  His  relation 
to  His  disciples  or  the  Church.  These  are  the 
two  main  divisions  of  the  prayer.  Not  that  each 
is  exclusive  of  the  other.  The  Lord's  conscious- 
ness of  His  disciples  is  vivid  when  the  gaze  is 
most  straight  from  the  heart  of  the  Son  to  the 
heart  of  the  Father.  But  we  can  thus  distinguish  : 
— The  first  five  verses  are  the  expression  of  tJie 
open  secret  betiveen  Jesus  and  His  Father ;  from 
the  sixth  to  the  nineteenth  verse  the  desire  is 
occupied  with  the  cu-cle  more  immediately  around 
Him  ;  from  the  twentieth  verse  to  the  end  the 
range  of  intercession  is  widened  to  include  the 
zvJiole  CJmrcJi,  and  to  remember  the  unbelieving 
world.  This  order  may  be  a  guide  to  us  in  our 
farther  consideration  of  the  words  of  the  Lord. 


244  'i'lIE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 


I  have  spoken  of  the  first  part  as  *'  the  expres- 
sion of  an  open  secret^  The  expression  begins 
with  a  reference  to  tJie  hour.  There  is  no  need 
of  farther  specialising.  The  hour  which  the 
Love  of  God  had  beheld  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world  :  The  hour  of  the  one  sufficient 
sacrifice  for  the  sin  of  the  world,  of  darkness 
and  of  light,  of  the  supreme  complacency  yet 
the  hidden  countenance  of  the  Father :  The 
hour  up  to  which  all  past  history  had  led,  from 
which  all  history  to  come  should  anew  depart, 
for  which  the  Father  and  the  Son  had  waited  ; 

v.r.  I.         "  F'ather,  tJie  honr  is  come." 

What  then  }  Two  or  three  days  before,  the 
vision  of  the  hour  had  met  His  gaze,  and  He 
cried,  "  Save  Me."  True,  there  was  immediately 
the  addition,  "  But  for  this  cause  came  I  unto 

Chap.  xU.  27,  this  hour.  Father,  glorify  Thy  name."  But 
there  was  something  like  oscillation  of  purpose 
— there  was  at  least  the  shrinking  of  the  sensitive 
human  soul  from  all  which  the  hour  involved. 
That  shrinking  will  re-appear  in  Gethsemane. 
But  it  has  no  place  now.  It  is  observable  that  the 
merely  personal  element  is  excluded  from  this 
part  of  the  prayer.  The  Son  as  the  Son  speaks 
to  the  Father  as  the  Father.  On  this  high  level 
the  desire  of  the  soul  is  set.  The  bitter  pains 
of  dying  are    not  in    the  view.     It  is  for  the 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.     245 

Father's  glory — as  the  consequence  of  the  autho- 
rity which  the  Son  possesses — that  the  humanity 
in  which  the  eternal  life  had  been  manifested 
should  be  exalted.  "  Father,  glorify  Thy  Son, 
that  Thy  Son  also  may  glorify  Thee''  Ver.  i. 

In  this  consciousness,  the  Son  puts  the  Father 
in  remembrance.  Had  He  not  received,  as  the 
Incarnate  Word,  authority  over  all  flesh  }  Was  ver.  2. 
not  He,  the  God-Man,  the  Head  of  every  man.'' 
Had  He  not  been  sent,  was  it  not  the  very 
purpose  of  His  mission,  that  He  should  be  a 
fountain  of  life  in  the  midst  of  a  dying  world  .'  Ver.  2. 
that  He  should  give  power  to  as  many  as 
received  Him  to  become  what  He  Him- 
self was,  sons  of  God .-'  This  life  of  son- 
ship  is  essentially  a  knowledge  of  God,  Ver.  3. 
such  as,  in  the  flesh,  He  had  realized 
— the  knowledge  which  is  the  fruit  of  a 
perfect  trustfulness,  oneness  of  will  with  the 
eternal  will,  love,  sympathy,  fellowship.  This 
knowledge  could  not  be  possessed  by  men  apart 
from  His  glorifying.  Thus  only  could  He  be 
the  Prince  and  Saviour.  Thus  only  could  His 
"  flesh  be  meat  indeed  and  His  blood  be  drink 
indeed."  Thus  only  could  the  Comforter  be 
sent  in  the  name  of  the  Son,  as  the  spirit  of  a 
Son,  crying  Father.  The  exaltation  of  Christ 
is  the  magnifying  of  the  Father.  The  Father's 
love  will  see  its  travail  and  be  satisfied. 
It    will    be    a    new   joy   in   heaven.      It   will 


246  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

be  the  hastening  to  completion  of  the  Father's 
kingdom.  "  Father,  the  Son  to  whom  Thou  hast 
given  authority,  the  bestovver  of  the  life  eternal, 
asks  of  Thee  what  Thou  wilt  give  Him  ;  That 
He  may  have  the  full  opportunity  of  manifest- 
ing Thy  Name,  of  fulfilling  Thy  purpose  ;  That 
Thou  mayest  be  glorified  in  Him  ;  glorify  Thy 
Son." 

And  then,   having  set  forth  the  Alpha  and 
Omega    of    His    longing    as    the    Son,   Jesus, 
the  Man,  humbles  Himself.     There  comes  forth 
the  simple  /, — the  retrospective  glance  on  the 
work  which  lies  behind.     It  has  been  fully  done, 
The  ministry  of  the  Redeemer  on  this  earth  is 
completed.     He  can  protest,  "  /  glorified  Thee 
on  the  earth,  I  finisJied  the  work  Thou  gavest  Me 
Ver .,.         to  do"     There  is  still  the  ^^  finisJied  "  of  Calvary; 
that   refers    especially  to  the   sin-bearing,    this 
comprehends  the  service  which  He  undertook 
when,  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth,  He  pointed 
to  Himself  as  the  servant  commissioned  to  pro- 
Luke  iv.  17-  claim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.     Nothing 
■'°'  had  been  wanting  !     Who  but  He  without  sin 

could  say  so,''  And  now,  in  His  humility.  He 
appeals  to  the  Father,  "  Thy  will  done ;  let 
Me  to  Thyself."  See  how,  whilst  all  His  action 
bespeaks  a  Divine  Person,  there  is  ever  the  sign 
of  One  who  had  emptied  Himself  of  that  which 
it  was  no  prize  to  claim.  He  is  in  the  place  of 
man.     He  is  the  Man  of  Faith,  whilst  He  is  the 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.  247 

Eternal  Son.  He  does  not  say,  "  I  glorify  My- 
self," as  He  says,  "  I  sanctify  Myself"  No,  He 
must  receive,  even  though  it  be  a  glory  which  is 
His  own,  which  He  had  with  the  Father  before 
the  world  was.  "  I  glorified  Thee  :  Father,  now 
glorify  Thou  Me!'  "  He  asked  life  of  Thee  and  Ver.  5. 
Thou  gavest  it  Him,  even  length  of  days  for 
ever  and  ever.  For  Thou  hast  made  Him  most 
blessed  for  ever."  ^^arnxxi. 4- 

Most  touching  is  the  cry  of  the  Heart  of 
Christ.  What  reflections  on  the  Being  of  God 
are  suggested  by  the  word,  "  Glorify  Thou  Me 
with  thine  otvn  self  zvith  the  glory  ivhich  I  had 
ivith  Theel'  It  sets  aside  the  thought  of  a  solitary  ver.5. 
Deity — a  mere  First  Cause  inhabiting  an  eter- 
nity of  monotonous  self-contemplation.  The 
Trinity  of  God  is  the  deliverance  from  such 
a  thought;  the  assurance  that,  in  deepest  reality, 
God  is  Love.  But  this  look  from  earth  to  the 
Father's  Bosom ;  this  longing  to  be  where 
the  only  blessedness  of  His  nature  could  be 
found  ;  this  eager,  although  always  self-re- 
strained, "  Now  Father— Home  at  last — zvith 
Thine  oiiui  self;  "  is  to  me  altogether  beautiful 
and  pathetic. 

II. 

But  the  Son  is  the  Saviour.  He  is  the  True 
Vine ;  and  His  heart  is  full  of  those  whom  He 
has  grafted  into  Himself     Is  not  the  manner 


248  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

of  Christ's   speech  regarding   them    strikingly 
tender?     Look  from  the  sixth  verse  onwards. 
He  is  so  thankful    for   the  great   gift  of  His 
Father  to  Him.     What  was  that  .-*     "  The  men 
Ver  6.         rvhom  TJwii  gavest  me  out  of  the  world."     Was 
there  much  for  which  to  be  grateful  ?     Some 
unlearned  and  ignorant  men,  whose  dulness  and 
deficiency  of  understanding  have  been  so  pain- 
fully evidenced  ;  could  He  not  have  received  a 
better  gift  than  that  ^     Could  not  men  of  higher 
culture  or  wider  influence  than  they  have  been 
found  ?     He  dwells  on  the  token  of  goodness, 
with  which,  in   their  adherence,  He  had  been 
favoured.     Six  times  there  is  express  mention 
of  it.     Again  and  again,  He  says,  "They  are 
Thine,"  in  an  emphatic  and  distinguishing  sense 
Ver.  6.         Thine.       "  Thine    they   were,"    He    says    once. 
They  were  the  Father's  whilst  they  toiled  at 
their  nets,  never  dreaming  what  a  consecration 
rested    on    them.      For   we    little   know   what 
divine  appointments  and  meanings  hang  about 
our  lives  !    Now,  why  this  resting  on  the  Father's 
proprietary   in  these  eleven  men,   and   on  the 
present  which,  in  them,  the   Father  had  given 
Him  out  of  the  world  .-' 

In  love  there  is  a  beauty-making,  glorifying 
power.  "  What  is  Thy  Beloved  more  than  an- 
other Beloved  }  "  demand  the  Watchmen  of  the 
Bride.  To  them  no  more  than  another,  to 
her  "  the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand,  and  alto- 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.  249 

i^ether   lovely."      The    Lord    throws    His    own  Camicies  v, 

9,  10. 

glory  around  His  poor  disciples.  He  does  not 
look  on  them  according  to  their  intelligence  of 
Him,  but  according  to  His  intelligence  of  them. 
What  He  saw  in  them  and  they  were  to  Him  ; 
their  calling  and  election  of  God  ;  this  is  put, 
as  it  were,  to  their  credit.  He  thinks  and 
speaks  of  them  in  the  light  of  His  ordina- 
tion of  them,  and  of  the  purpose  purposed  by 
the  Father  concerning  them.  More  than  this  ; 
there  enters  a  natural  human  feeling.  In  his 
later  years,  Mahomet  spoke  with  tearful  gra- 
titude of  her  who  had  been  his  partner  in  life 
through  the  earlier  time  of  his  career.  "  In  the 
whole  world,"  he  protested,  "  I  had  but  one 
friend  and  she  was  that  one — she  believed  in  me 
when  none  else  did."  There  is  a  touch  of  the 
same  nature — the  genuine  humanity — in  the 
sentences  of  Jesus  regarding  the  eleven.  They 
had  trusted  Him  as  the  world  had  not.  They 
had  opened  up  their  souls  to  Him.  They  had 
believed  in  Him  as  the  Christ  of  God.  Others 
had  mocked.  Others  had  gone  back.  They 
had  remained  faithful.  And  He  prays  for  them. 
Do  not  let  us  put  a  harsh  dogmatic  construc- 
tion on  the  clause,  "I  pray  not  for  the  world."  ver. g. 
There  is  no  refusal  to  plead  for  the  world.  The 
authority  over  all  flesh  given  to  the  Son  involves 
His  prayer  for  all  flesh.  He  remembered  man- 
kind on  the  cross.     In  the  presence  of  God,  He 


250  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

is  the  intercessor  for  all  men.  But  as  has  well 
been  remarked,  "  the  prayer  for  the  world  takes 
quite  a  different  form  from  that  for  tJie  CJmrch. 
The  former  is  to  the  effect  that  the  world  may- 
cease  to  be  what  it  is  ;  the  latter,  that  the  Church 
may  be  perfected  in  that  which  it  has  received 
oishausen     into  itsclf     Hcrc  the  latter  only  is  the  object  in 

on  St  John  .  „        ,^  .      .  ^    .      .  rr 

xs\.  View.      Yes,  it  is  "  not  a  dogmatic  but  an  affec- 

tionate emphasis,"  a  speciality  of  application 
that  is  intended  in  the  language  of  Christ.  He 
is  before  His  Father  as  the  Head  of  His  spirit- 
ual family  ;  the  True  Vine  praying  for  the 
branches.  And,  indeed,  is  not  the  prayer  for 
the  Church,  in  another  aspect,  really  a  prayer 
for  the  world  .-'  The  disciples  are  not  monopo- 
lists of  grace.  They  constitute  the  Trustee- 
Body,  intromitting  with  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation, for  the  benefit  of  man.  To  plead  for 
them  is  to  ensure  that  the  estate  confided  to 
them  shall  be  administered  for  the  welfare  of  all 
the  ages.     In  them  the  Redeemer  is  glorified. 

When  He  prays  for  them,  see  how  the  Lord 
approaches  the  Father.  Twice  in  this  confer- 
ence, a  qualifying  word  is  prefixed  to  the 
Blessed  Name.  When,  at  the  close,  He  refers 
to  the   ignorance  of  the  world.  He   says,  "  O 

Ver.  25.        Righteous  Father."     The  Spirit  will  convict  the 
world  as  to  Righieous7iess.     Now,  offering  His 

Ver.  Tt.        desire  for  His  own,  it  is,  "  Holy  Father."     The 
holiness  of  the  Father — His  absolute  separate- 


THE  INTERCESSORY  TR AVER.  25  I 

ness  from  evil,  so  that  He  cannot  look  on  sin — 
is  the  ideal  which  the  Son  would  have  fulfilled 
in  those  who  are  the  Father's.  "One  as  we  are," 
in  this  separateness,  is  the  aim  of  all  His  inter- 
cession. And,  in  thus  observing  the  care  with 
which  Jesus,  even  in  language,  sets  forth  His  de- 
sire, is  there  not  a  lesson  of  reverence  taught  ? 
"O  how  seldom,"  exclaims  the  saintly  Leighton, 
"  think  we  that  He  is  God  even  while  we  speak 
to  Him,  and  how  quickly  do  we  forget  it  and 
let  slip  that  thought !  Pray  to  be  taught  this 
form  of  prayer  ;  and  watch  over  your  hearts  in 
prayer,  to  set  them  thus,  when  you  enter  in  to 
Him,  and  to  call  them  in  when  they  wander, 
and  pluck  them  up  when  they  slumber,  and 
think  where  they  are  and  what  they  are  doing."  ?^™°"' 

The  prayer  to  the  "  Holy  Father  "  is  twofold : 
the  negative  form,  "  keep  them  ; "  the  positive 
form,  "  sanctify  them." 

I.  He  had  been  their  guardian.  The  Father's 
gift  to  Him,  He  had  accepted  them  as  the 
Father's  charge.  For  His  fulfilment  of  the 
trust  He  makes  answer.  The  Name  has  been 
manifested.     The  word  has  been  spoken.     His  „ 

•'•  Vc:s.  6  i 

work  and  offices  have  been  unfolded  to  them. 
And  He  has  kept  them  all  in  that  Holy  Father's 
name.  All  !  Oh  what  a  shadow !  I  think 
that  the  saddest  saying  in  Scripture  is,  "  None  of 
tJicni  is  lost  but  the  son  of  perdition^  One  soul  \er.  i... 
lost!     What  was  that  to  Him  who  saw  where 


Ver.  II. 


252  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

we  cannot ;  who  could  "  brook  to  look  on  the 
depths  of  sin,"  and  who  knew  what  the  perdition 
of  a  son  of  man  implied.  Sad,  terrible !  To 
go  within  the  veil  and  say,  "  Every  one.  Father, 
but  one.  My  love  failed  to  win  him — he  is 
gone  !  "  Surely  this  was  the  sorest  anguish  of  the 
Saviour's  heart.  But  He  is  no  more  in  the  world. 
Now,  He  casts  His  bereaved  and  sorrowing 
children  directly  and  wholly  on  the  Fatherhood 
of  God. 

Keep  tJicin  in  the  name  with  whose  light  and 
truth  He  had  surrounded  them.  Living  with 
Him,  they  had  lived  in  the  revelation  of  the 
Father,  in  the  consciousness  of  all  that  was 
essential  in  the  Father's  relation  to  men.  In 
this  element  may  they  ever  remain  !  Well  He 
knows  the  world  before  them — the  conflict — the 
trial  which  has  been  already  portrayed.  The 
evil  one  who  had  tempted  Him  was  waiting  for 
them.  What  can  He  do  more  than  simply 
hand  His  beloved  back  to  His  Father,  to  whom 
all  the  situation  was  fully  revealed,  and  say — 
Father,  they  were  Thine  and  Thou  gavest  them 
Me :  they  are  Mine  and  I  give  them  again  to 
Thee.  Their  place  and  their  fight  are  in  the 
world,  and  I  pray  not  that  Thou  shouldest  take 

Ver  14.        them  out  of  it.      As  I  guarded  them  for  Thee, 
guard  them   now  for   Me.     Holy   Father   keep 

Ver.  15.        tJieni  from  the  evil. 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.     253 

2.  And  the  desire  takes  more  definite  shape. 
They  are  not  of  the  world.  They  belong  to 
another  realm.  They  are  His  and  He  is  the  Ver.  16. 
Father's.  They  constitute  a  separate  com- 
munity. They  are  set  apart  for  a  distinct  work 
and  by  a  distinct  anointing.  They  must  reflect 
Him  :  they  must  witness  to  the  Father's  holi- 
ness. The  centre  of  the  whole  supplication  of 
the  Lord  is  the  word,  "  Father,  smictify  or  con- 
secrate them.  Personally  consecrate  them  :  and  Ver.  17. 
fit  them  for  the  mission  on  which  I  have  sent 
them." 

Personally—"///  tnithr  The  mark  of  the 
disciple  is  that  he  be  the  true  man— in  and 
out,  through  and  through.  Nor  is  truth  a 
mere  vague  generality.  '' Thy  zvord  is  truths  v^r.rj. 
He  must  be  pervaded  by  that  word ;  what 
Christ  has  spoken,  what  Christ  has  declared — 
the  Father's  message  to  man — dwelling  in  Him 
richly  ;  not  a  mere  outward  commandment,  but 
a  transforming  spirit  of  life.  And  thus  in- 
spired and  actuated  by  the  Spirit  of  Truth, 
Christ  contemplates  the  mission  of  His  apostles. 
Again  there  comes  before  us  the  as  and  so  found 
in  the  discourse  on  the  Vine  and  the  Branches. 
*'  As  thou  didst  send  Me  into  the  zuorid,  so  sent  I  ^^r.  .8. 
tJieni  into  the  zvor/dJ'  It  is  the  as  and  so  of 
Christ.  The  sending  of  the  Apostles  is  the 
continuation  of  the  sending  of  the  Son.  It  is 
the  extension   of  the   Redeemer's  work.     It  is 


254  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

the  mission  of  Sonship  in  the  world.  It  is  the 
filling  up  of  the  residuum  of  Christ's  sufferings. 
He  might  have  sent  angels  :  He  sent  men,  men 
in  whom  He  should  re-appear,  His  love  inspir- 
ing their  hearts  and  quickening  in  them  the 
passion  for  truth  and  goodness.  Because  the 
Father  had  sent  Him,  in  order  that  all  the  pur- 
pose of  the  sending  might  be  accomplished.  He 
has  sent  them.  It  is  the  as  and  so  of  compari- 
son. Christ's  mission  both  in  its  scope  and 
in  its  manner  is  the  measure  of  the  disciples. 
Vei-.  19.  "  For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  Myself  There  are 
other  aspects  of  His  sacrifice — if  He  were  pray- 
ing for  the  world  these  would  be  included.  But 
now,  praying  for  those  whom  he  had  washed 
from  the  guilt  of  sin.  He  thinks  specially  of 
the  exemplary  power  of  His  obedience  unto 
death.  His  consecration  is  the  motive  and  the 
example,  the  law  and  spirit,  of  theirs.  It  is  to 
pass  into  them,  to  constitute  their  separation 
from  the  world,  to  be  the  sign  of  their  priest- 
hood and  the  power  of  their  service.  Not  a 
mere  profession,  not  a  mere  outward  non-con- 
formity to  practises  and  precepts  of  the  world  ; 
but  the  revelation  of  self-sacrificing  love — the 
love  that  lays  down  its  life,  that  for  the  joy  set 
before  it  endures  the  cross,  despising  the  shame. 
This  is  the  true  sanctification  of  the  Apostles. 
"  Father  sanctify  them." 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.     255 


III. 

But  now,  the  range  of  intercession  widens. 
This  self-sacrificing  love  is  the  evidence  of  all 
true  faith.  In  praying  that  it  might  be  the  pos- 
session of  those  immediately  around  him,  Christ 
is  really  praying  for  all  "who  shall  believe  in 
Him  through  their  word."  Explicitly,  He  offers  ver.  20. 
up  the  pleading  which  has  implicitly  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Father.  And  it  is  to  be  remarked 
that  the  subject  of  the  unity  of  His  Church  is 
brought  into  prominence  only  when  the  full 
scope  of  His  mission  is  contemplated.  For  be- 
lievers, to  the  end  of  the  age,  the  word  is,  "  That 
they  all  may  be  oner  ver.  21. 

We  can  distinguish  a  sequence  of  thought  in 
the  references  to  unity  contained  in  the  prayer. 
There  is  first  the  most  general  form,  "  one  as 
we  are,"   having   one   purpose,  one  mind,  one  ver.  n. 
dwelling-place — the  Father's   name — the  Holy 
Spirit  thus  making  them  one.      There  is  again 
the  more   special   form,    oneness    in    the   com- 
munion of  Father  and  Son,    proving  that  the  Ver.  21. 
unity  of  believers  is  more  than  a  merely  moral 
consent,  that  it  is  in  a  real  sense,  a  vital  unity, 
'^  As  Thou  FatJier  art  in  me  and  I  in  Thee,  that 
they  also   may    be    one    in  us."      And    lastly,  vers.  22,23, 
there  is  the   perfected  unity,  which  is  realised  '^' 
through  the  giving  of  the  glory  which  the  Father 
gives  the  Man  Jesus,  viz.,  the  knowledge  of  Him 


250  THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

as  the  Father,  and  fellowship  with  Him  as  the 
Son  with  the  Father,  and  which  is  consummated 
in  the  everlasting  participation  in  the  Father's 
beatific  presence.  Corresponding  to  the  two  lat- 
ter, there  are  results  in  the  world.  The  unity  of 
believers  in  the  communion  of  Father  and  Son 
is  the  means  of  awaking  belief  in  the  divine 

Ver.  21.  mission  of  Christ.  The  unity  in  glory — the  per- 
fecting into  it — is  the  means  of  revealing  the  love 
with  which  the  Father  loves  Him,  so  that  men 
may  recognise  not  only  the  mission  of  Christ,  but 

Ver.  23.  the  fellowship  of  His  people  in  that  love.  As  the 
perfecting  proceeds,  the  knowledge  of  the  love 
of  God,  reflected  in  and  from  the  Church,  will 
increase.  Ah  !  when  we  speak  of  failure,  of  the 
powerlessness  of  the  Church,  of  the  weakness  of 
her  testimony,  and  the  fruitlessness  of  her  toil, 
let  us  ask  whether  the  perfecting  into  unity  is 
advancing  as  it  should. 

Unity,  oneness,  is  the  predominant  feature  of 
the  last  part  of  the  prayer.  To  the  hostile  world 
it  is  the  sign  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  ;  it  is  the 
power  of  the  Church  also.  Without  it,  all  evi- 
dences fail.  With  it,  there  is  a  force  which  the 
world  cannot  resist.  We  may  not  linger  over 
the  sublime  conception  ;  we  cannot  analyse  the 
wonderfully  suggestive  language.  This  only, — 
it  is  unity  in  truth,  unity  in  love,  unity  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  "one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 

Ephc:=:aiibiv.  baptism,    one  God   and  Father  of   all."     Cer- 


THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER.  257 

tainly,  it  is  something  at  once  much  higher  and 
more  elastic  than  any  external  uniformity.  Yet, 
there  must  be  a  visible  attestation  of  the  union. 
Else  how  could  the  world  believe  .''  How  could 
the  world  know  .''  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  attestation  is  hindered  by  the  disunion  of 
Christians.  But,  through  all  the  times,  and 
notwithstanding  all  kinds  of  divisions,  there  has 
been,  is,  and  will  be,  the  working  of  the  same 
spirit,  the  same  holy  and  eternal  life.  Blurred 
and  marred  as  the  writing  is,  men  have 
traced  —  the  human  heart  does  trace  —  the 
characters — "/  ///  thcm^  and  Thou  in  vie,  One  ^'ers.  ci,  .j. 
/;/  7 IS.'' 

The  climax  of  the  prayer  is  reached  when  the 
Saviour  pauses,  and,  with  new  solemnity,  ad- 
dresses the  Father.  Hitherto  He  has  spoken  as 
the  Son,  who  is  the  Man  of  Faith.  Now  the 
tone  becomes  regal.  For  Himself,  the  spirit  of 
His  speech  is  always  that  which  was  breathed 
in  the  garden — "  not  what  I  will,  but  what  Thou  Markxiv.36, 
wilt."  But  for  the  Church,  He  says,  "  Father,  I 
will"  He  is  the  Head  of  the  covenant,  and,  in  its 
right,  He  presents  the  unchallengeable  claim. 
How  touching :  "  As  for  that  which  Thou 
hast  given  Me — that  unity  to  which  all  times 
and  lands  shall  contribute — my  will,  Father, 
is,  that  it  be  with  Me  where  I  am,  that  those 
who  form  this  unity  may  behold  My  glory  ;  for 


R 


258     THE  INTERCESSORY  PRAYER. 

Thou  lovedst  Me  before  the  foundation  of  the 
Ver.  24.        world." 

With  this  zvill  for  the  gathering  together  of 

all  the  family — reminding  of,  and  enforcing  the 

Chap.  xiv.  I-  first  word  of  the  consolation — prayer,  in  its  more 

^'  restricted    signification,   ends.     A  final    appeal 

comprehending  the  three  main  facts  on  which 

the  prayer  proceeded — "the  world's  ignorance  ; 

the  knowledge  of  the    Son  ;  the   faith  of  the 

westcott's     disciples" — concludes    the    communion.       "O 

Com-  '■ 

mentary.  rightcous  Father,  the  world  knew  Thee  not,  but 
I  knew  Thee,  and  these  knew  that  Thou  didst 
send  Me.  And  I  made  known  unto  them  Thy 
name,  and  will  make  it  known  ;  that  the  love 
wherewith  Thou  lovedst  Me  may  be  in  them, 
Vers. 25,26,  and  I  in  them."  "A  more  sublime  seal  than 
Version.       any  doxology,  than  any  Amen  of  another  sup- 

Stier,  vol.  vi.  pHcatioU." 
V-  522- 

"  The  hour  is  come."     He    must  no   longer 

tarry.     "  When  Jesus  had  spoken  these  words, 

He  went  forth  with  His  disciples  over  the  brook 

Chap,  xviii.    Kcdron.'' 
I. 

1  Cor.  V.  7,         "  dir  Passover  also  hath  been  sacrificed,  even 

Kevised  /-~  11 

Ver'^ion.  CJirist. 


TURNliULL  AND  SrEARS,  PRINTERS,  EDINBURGH. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY 
MACNIVEN    Sc    WALLACE. 


^lu  Douscholl)  pbmn)  of  exposition. 

THE    LIFE    OF    DAVID 
AS    REFLECTED    IN    HIS    PSALMS. 

By  Alexander  Maclarex,  D.D. 

Fourth  Thousand.     Price  3s.  6c/. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE   PRESS. 

"  Real  gems  of  exposition  are  to  be  found  in  this  slight  work,  which 
might  be  sought  in  vain  from  more  erudite  and  ponderous  tomes.  .  .  . 
We  have  nothing  but  admiration  and  praise  for  this  valuable  little 
reprint." — Rev.  S.  Cox  in  ^^ Expositor." 

' '  A  charming  volume  for  devotional  reading,  being  the  first  volume 
of  a  new  series  of  small  religious  books.  A  better  beginning  could 
not  have  been  made." —  British  Q2(artcrly. 

"This  is  no  hurried  production  as  so  many  volumes  are  in  this  age  of 
light  literature.  It  is,  we  are  convinced,  the  expression  of  a  lifetime  of 
study  and  careful  analysis." — British  and  Foreign  Evangelical  Review. 

"  Glows  with  fine  spiritual  fervour  and  poetic  beauty  of  thought  and 
expression.  It  is  essentially  a  book  for  the  Christian  household." — 
Literary  World. 

"In  a  literary  point  of  view,  it  is  poetic  prose  from  beginning  to 
end.  ...  If  we  said  all  that  we  could  with  honesty  say  about  the 
merits  of  this  book,  some  might  consider  us  guilty  of  exaggeration,  but 
that  could  only  be  until  they  had  read  the  volume  for  themselves." — 
Presbyterian  Messenger. 

"  The  subject  is  well  chosen,  and  the  name  of  the  author  is  sufficient 
to  secure  a  multitude  of  readers.  .  .  Eloquence  linked  with  spirituality, 
in  one  who  is  qualified  to  be  a  teacher  of  men  because  he  is  taught  of 
God. "' — Christian. 

"Admirably  suited  for  a  household  library,  by  reason  of  the  sim- 
plicity, ease,  and  graceful  homeliness  of  its  English  and  its  vivid  insight 
into,  and  true  estimation  of  the  every-day  trials,  and  the  severer 
sorrows  of  domestic  life." — Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine. 

"  As  a  piece  of  poetical  criticism,  this  little  book  is  entitled  to  high 
praise. " — Scotsman. 

"Just  the  book  we  should  give  to  awaken  a  living  and  historical 
interest  in  the  psalms." — Guardian. 

"  I  am  charmed  with  Dr  Maclaren's  volume. " — Rer;.  H.  Alton,  D.D. 


144  PRINCES  STREET,  EDINBURGH. 


List  of  Books  published  by  Maativen  6^  Wallace. 

ADAM,  NOAH,  AND  ABRAHAM: 

READINGS  IN  THE  BOOK  OF  GENESIS. 

By  Joseph  Parker,  D.D. 
Second  Tkoicsa)id.      Price  3s. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


"The  more  of  such  books  the  better.  Dr  Parker  is  always  spark- 
ling and  fresh.  .  .  .  Sketches  of  life  and  character  strikingly  drawn 
by  a  vigorous  hand." — C.  H.  Spiirgcon  in  "■  Sivord and  Troivel." 

"The  striking  mode  of  illustration  employed  by  Dr  Parker,  and 
his  vigorous  and  original  treatment  of  the  various  points  touched 
upon,  render  these  expository  readings  very  different  from  the  ordinary 
run  of  pulpit  expositions,  and  will  ensure  for  them  a  welcome  of  no 
ordinary  character." — Rock. 

"Full  of  suggestive  thoughts,  and  therefore  teach  much  more  than 
they  express. " — Clirisiimi. 

"  Remarkably  interesting  and  suggestive  volume.  The  little  volume 
on  a  whole  is  a  large  volume  when  you  judge  it  by  thought-expound- 
ing, heart-stirring  paragraphs.  .  .  .  Rich  in  inspiration,  suggestion, 
and  consolation.  .  .  .  Every  touch  tells.  There  is  no  mere  attempt 
to  say  able  things,  they  grow  out  of  the  narrative  itself ;  for  a  living 
mind,  educated  for  years  to  seize  the  salient  points  of  truth,  has 
given  us  of  its  best." — Literary  lVo7-ld. 

"  Undoubtedly  characterised  by  a  freshness  and  sparkle  of  style 
not  too  usually  to  be  found  in  pulpit  lucubrations." — Sco/sniaii. 

"  Full  of  suggestive  thoughts  ;  very  picturesque.  It  is  such  pleasant 
reading  that  we  cannot  imagine  any  one  beginning  it  without  being 
drawn  on  to  read  it  to  the  end." —  Christian  IVcek. 

"An  admirable  little  work,  and  fully  sustains  the  well-earned 
reputation  of  its  author  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  practical 
preachers  of  the  present  da.y."— Edinburgh  Daily  Revinv. 

"  Claims  very  high  merit  as  a  popular  dramatic  pulpit  speech." — 
British  Quarterly. 

"  Rich  in  botli  expository  and  practical  teaching  and  admirably 
adapted  for  family  reading." — Aberdeen  Journal. 

144  PRINCES  STREET,  EDINBURGH. 


List  of  Books  published  by  Macniven  &=  Wallace. 

%\\z  J)ou5choll)  J^ibrarj)  of  (E-vpositioii. 
ISAAC,   JACObTaND  JOSEPH 

By  Marcus  Dods,  D.D. 

Third  Thousand.     Price  Zs.  Gd. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE   PRESS. 

"  The  present  volume  is  worthy  of  the  writer's  reputation.  He  deals 
with  the  problems  of  human  life  and  character  which  these  Biographies 
suggest  in  a  candid  and  manly  fashion,  and  where  he  discovers  a 
spiritual  significance  in  them,  his  course  is  always  marked  by  sobriety 
and  caution,  yet  he  is  not  wanting  in  fervour  and  earnestness." — 
Spec  fa  ^or. 

"  We  commend  this  volume  to  our  readers  as  a  model  of  popular 
exposition.  .  .  .  For  insight  into  the  depths  of  the  character  pour- 
trayed,  an  insight  which  amounts  to  intimacy,  we  have  not  for  many 
a  day  found  any  work  superior  to  this." — Baptist. 

"Dr  Dods  has  the  double  qualifications  for  writing  Biography, 
He  is  at  once  a  student  of  books  and  a  student  of  life.  For  reality 
therefore,  for  freshness,  for  penetration,  for  insight  into  character, 
these  chapters  are  incomparable,  and  for  the  purposes  of  '  Household 
Exposition,'  we  can  conceive  of  no  healthier  form  of  Literature  coming 
into  our  families." — Christian. 

"  An  admirable  example  of  what  biblical  exposition  for  the  house- 
hold ought  to  be.  The  freshness  and  spiritual  power  of  this  fresh  and 
strong  book  are  largely  due  to  the  author's  gift  of  bringing  out  the 
essential  human  characteristics." — English  Presbyterian  A/essenger. 

"  Dr  Dods  is  a  man  with  a  vein  of  a  very  peculiar  genius  ninning 
through  an  intellectual  and  moral  nature  of  the  highest  excellence. 
This  is  a  book  which  should  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  young.  There 
is  a  calm  but  very  bracing  and  searching  breeze  blowing  through  the 
book.  It  makes  the  reader  think,  it  sometimes  makes  him  dream,  but 
it  is  also  calculated  to  make  him  act." — London  IVeckly  Rcvieio. 

"The  production  of  a  man  of  learning,  of  clear  and  comprehensive 
perception,  of  careful  but  vigorous  thought,  and  of  devout  spirit.  Its 
literary  characteristics  are  as  good  as  the  most  cultured  mind  could 
wish.  This  book  by  Dr  Dods  is  interesting  and  instructive  from 
beginning  to  end. " — Baptist  ^Magazine. 

"Admirably  treated  subject  for  the  "Household  Library."  The 
style  is  throughout  simple,  touching,  kindly  and  attractive.  The 
description  of  Jacob's  Dream  is  surpassingly  beautiful,  quite  equal  to 
Ruskin's  word-painting  of  the  same." — IVeslcyan  Methodist  Magazine. 

"There  is  no  sign  of  falling  off  in  this  admirable  timely  and  useful 
series.  Of  these  studies  we  can  only  say,  that  they  are  in  every  way 
worthy  of  their  author." — Literary  World. 

144  PRINCES~STREET,   EDINBURGH. 


List  of  Books  published  by  Maciiiven  c>"  JVailace. 


EDITED  BY 

PROFESSOR  S ALMOND,   D.D.,    ABERDEEN. 


THE   LIFE   OF   DAVID. 

By  the  late  Rev.  Peter  Thomson,  M.A.,  St  Fergus. 
With  Maps.     Fourth  Thousand,  96  pp.,  price  6d.,  cloth,  8d. 

The  Dean  of  Norwich  (E.  M.  Goulhurn,  D.D.)  says:—"  The  writer  seems  to  treat  his 
subject  both  succinctly  and  learnedly,  and  while  saying  nothing  to  impair  the  rever- 
ence which  should  be  paid  to  Holy  Scripture  as  God's  inspired  word  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  literature  of  the  day  and  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  knowledge 
of  Hebrew." 

The  Dean  of  Peterhorough  (J.  J.  Stewart  Perrowne,  D.D.)  .says: — "It  seems  to  me 
verj'  well  executed  and  likely  to  be  very  useful  to  teachers,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to 
recommend  it.  The  arrangement  in  paragraphs  with  headings  adds  much  to  its 
usefulness  for  reference,  and  also  enables  pupils  to  master  it  more  readily." 

The  Eev.  Samuel  Cox  says : — "Mr  Thomson  has  told  the  story  in  the  simplest  lan- 
guage and  the  briefest  compass,  so  that  even  the  children  in  a  Sunday  School  class 
may  read  it  with  understanding  and  without  weariness,  while  even  the  most  accom- 
plished scholar  will  find  hints  in  it  which  will  be  welcome  and  helpful  to  him." 

The  Kev.  Professor  A.  B.  Bruce,  D.D.,  says  : — '"  It  is  a  very  superior  and  satisfactory 
performance,  admirably  fitted  for  its  purpose.  It  is  at  once  popular  and  scholarly, 
the  reproduction  of  the  story  is  vivid  and  fitted  to  interest  young  minds,  and  there 
is  not  a  trace  of  slovenly  inaccuracy.  The  little  book  is  also  very  healthy  in  its  reli- 
gious tone.  A  spirit  of  real,  reverent,  manly  piety  pervades  it  ;  just  such  a  spirit  as 
is  fitted  to  impress  young  minds,  and  as  I  greatly  desire  to  see  spreading  among  our 
rising  youth." 

THE    LIFE   OFMOSES. 

By  the  Rev.  James  Iverach,  M.A.,  Aberdeen. 
With  Maps.     Fifth  Thousand,  price  6d.,  cloth,  8d. 

"  Another  of  the  able  and  much  needed  Bible  Class  Primers.  Mr  Iverach's  work 
is  accurately  done — clear,  mature,  and  scholarlj'." — Christian. 

"Just  what  a  Bible  Class  Primer  should  be — transparent  and  forcible  in  style, 
and  abreast  of  the  scholarship  of  the  day." — Literary  WoriJ. 


In  Preparation. 
BIBLE      WORDS      AND       PHRASES      EXPLAINED      AND 
ILLUSTRATED. 

By  Charles  Michie,  M.A.,  Aberdeen. 

LIFE  OF  ST   PAUL. 

By  the  Kev.  J.  Baton  Gloao,  D.D.,  Galashiels. 

JOSHUA  AND  THE  CONQUEST. 

By  the  Rev.  Professor  Croskery,  Londonderry. 

Complete  list  of  Attthors  and  Subjects  sent  on  application. 


144  PRINCES  STREET,  EDINBURGH. 


List  of  Books  published  by  Macmvcn   &^    Wallace. 


A    SCOTCH    STUDENT. 

Memorials  of  Peter  Thomson,  M.A.,  Minister  of  St  Fergus. 

BY  THE  REV  GEORGE  STEVEN,  M.A.,  LOGIEALMOND. 
With  Portrait,     Second  Edition.      Crozcn  8vo.     Price  },s.  6d. 

"This  brief  and  sympathetic  Memoir  is  well  calculated  to  make  a 
deep  and  beneficial — it  may  be  hoped  abiding — impression  upon 
students  for  the  ministry,  to  whatever  church  they  may  belong." — 
Scotsman. 

"  Through  the  gentle  goodness  of  his  mother,  the  steady  industry 
of  both  parents,  and  his  own  great  ability,  he  managed  to  figh<:  his 
way  to  a  college  course,  became  not  only  a  successful  classical  scholar, 
but  an  able  Orientalist,  who  surprised  even  German  professors  by  his 
large  linguistic  attainments,  and  who  after  some  struggle  with 
sceptical  tendencies,  recovered  simple  faith,  and  became  a  minister  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland." — Nonconfor7mst. 

"Since  Norman  Macleod's  'Earnest  Student,'  no  sketch  of  the 
deeper  side  of  student  life,  or  of  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  currents 
which  are  at  present  playing  around  the  minds  of  many  thoughtful 
young  men,  has  more  interested  us  than  this  graceful  and  toucliing 
Memoir." — Christian. 

"Very  simple,  yet  very  pathetic  and  stimulating  is  the  story  of 
Peter  Thomson,  as  told  by  his  friend  Mr  Steven.  No  young  man 
could  read  this  brief,  and  upon  the  whole,  well-written  Memoir  with- 
out rising  from  it  purer  in  heart  and  loftier  in  aim."—  Literary  World. 

"Mr  Steven,  who  gives  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  closeness  of 
sympathy  that  existed  between  himself  and  the  subject  of  the  memoir, 
has  the  credit  of  having  done  justice  to  his  gifted  fellow-student,  while 
furnishing  the  public  with  a  Memoir,  which  in  point  of  literary  taste 
and  skill,  as  well  as  of  essential  interest,  may  be  regarded  as  a  model 
of  its  kind." — Aberdeen  Free  Press. 

"  Short,  simply  written,  modest,  and  discriminating.  Mr  Thomson 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  hard-working  students,  the  produc- 
tion of  whom  has  long  been  the  honourable  characteristic  of  the 
humbler  classes  in  Scotland." — Academy. 


144  PRINCES  STREET,  EDINBURGH. 


List  of  Books  published  by  Macniven  ^f  Wallace. 

Second  Edition.     Crown  Svo,  6s. 

STRONBUY;  OR,  HANKS  OF  HIGHLAND  YARN. 

BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  "TOBERSNOREY." 
Illustrated  by  Charles  Doyle. 

"  There  has  been  nothing  in  Scotland  like  the  breezy  fun  and  rapid 
character-sketchings  in  it  since  Professor  Aytoun's  time." — Academy. 

"  It  is  distinctly  an  appreciative  and  intelligent  account  of  Highlanil 
people  and  life  in  the  present  day,  as  well  as  a  hearty  kind  of  log-book 
of  sport. " — Athciuvjim. 

"We  know  of  no  book  in  which  the  dry  humour  of  the  Highland 
Celt  is  more  admirably  shewn." — Scotsman. 

"  The  book  is  i^acy  of  the  soil,  and  to  Scotchmen  far  away,  whose 
hearts  are  in  the  Highlands,  it  will  be  especially  welcome." — Literary 
World.  

Crown  Svo,  Sewed,  is.  ;  Cloth,  is.  6d. 

HEALTH   LECTURES   FOR   THE   PEOPLE, 

DELIVERED  IN  EDINBURGH  DURING  THE 
WINTER  OF  1880-81. 

"One  of  the  most  valuable  books  of  the  kind  that  has  yet  been 
published — cannot  be  too  widely  circulated.  There  ought  to  be  no 
household  without  it." — Scotsman. 


Second  Edition,  Revised,  with  Portrait  on  Steel,  2s.  6d. 
Cheap  Edition,  is. 

THOMAS  CARLYLE:  THE  STORY  OF  HIS  LIFE. 

BY  HENRY  NICOLL. 

"  Prepared  with  considerable  intelligence  and  judgment."  — 
Athemciim. 

"A  very  pleasantly  written  and  discriminative  biography." — 
Scotsman. 

"A  biography  that  all  classes  must  read  with  pleasure  and  profit." 
— Public  Opi)iion. 

Crown  Svo,  6s. 

ALFRED  TENNYSON :  HIS  LIFE  AND  WORKS. 

BY  WALTER  E.  WAGE. 

"In  every  way  creditable  to  the  industiy  and  judgment  of  its 
author." — Scotsnuui. 

"  This  work  is  a  very  important  one,  and  gives,  perhaps,  the  best 
critical  notice  of  the  life  and  works  of  Tennyson." — Public  Opinion. 


144  PRINCES  STREET,  EDINBURGH. 


.t^v\^%i 


I'lll  I  III  I  D'lm'i'itl  nuT"''^"'"  "-""sry 


1    1012  01030  8775 


